TSS alternative endings 1 : The kur relic
by SharpAsFlint
Summary: Possible rewrite coming summer 2018!
1. Ignorance

C

"What did you just do?!"

"I think he just changed his vote"

The Naga's Kur detector relic was sent soaring through the sky down to the ground, breaking into large pieces on impact. Zak looked mildly excited and proud of his lemurian brother, Doc and Drew looked happy for them, whilst Doyle looked seriously annoyed that he had just put all that effort in for nothing, he scowled and rolled his eyes. Zak looked over to him.

"He'll get it eventually, just trust him okay"

"Looks like we're gonna have to" Doyle sighed, exhaling deeply, looking slightly disappointed. The airship ride home was fairly quiet after that. Drew and Zak's faces soon left the screen as they set a course away from Kumari Kandam and towards the Saturday Headquarters' submarine chamber. Zak and Fisk immediately went off to practise on Fisk's lemurian instincts whilst Drew and Doc went to the lab to do some research on the Naga, Doyle went to his temporary bedroom to think to himself.

Was the relic really all that bad? If so, why wasn't Argost affected by its dark magic. For one, Doyle was starting to analyse Doc's practical, scientific point of view, instead of believing in his sister's warnings towards supposed dark magic. He knew that the relic would be a major score for them. If they could find Kur with it, the fight would be over before it even started. In his days as a mercenary, he learned to believe that the goal or in Van Rooks the money was the most important part of a job and that if you find a shortcut to your winnings you should take and appreciate it, not throw it away like his family just did. Maybe they wouldn't notice if he slipped away to search for it, maybe he could fix it enough to make it work again. If he kept it secret, hidden in one of his bags, they would never know. That is, if the drop hadn't obliterated it into shreds. He decided he would, after all they would never know, right?

So whilst his sister and brother in law conspired in the lab, he snuck down into Drew's library where he assumed she kept all her books on Kur and Sumerians. He pushed the door ajar and turned on a torch, not wanting to arouse suspicion by turning on a light. The library was set out in several large shelves containing row upon row of dusty old books. His eyes scanned across the spines of the books until he found what he was looking for, he picked up four books on Kur and one book on the Naga. He placed them under his arm and headed back towards the other side of the house. He then proceeded to buckle himself into his trusty jetpack before jetting off into the night.

He returned later with the scattered remnants of the relic, stuffed into one of his carry pouches. He poured the pieces out onto his desk. The relic was thankfully still relatively intact, but the eyes had fallen off and large chunks had broken off. He brought a large toolbox up onto the desk, then opened one of the books he had piled up to the side.

"Sorry Zakman, but I gotta follow my instincts too".


	2. Trickery

_**Next chapter, they should get longer and more detailed as I write. So this is where things start to escalate...**_

Drew was never the slightest bit suspicious when her brother didn't show up to dinner, or at all that night. She just assumed he was fixing his jetpack or something. Zak was slightly disappointed as he wanted to show his uncle his new videogame, but then at least Zak was free of "bad influence". She assumed that was why Doc was in such a good mood. However, she had no suspicion that he had the relic in his possession, after she had seen Fisk throw it out of the ship. Then again because she didn't bother to disturb him, she had no idea he was up late into the night working on it.

…..

Doyle slammed the book shut and rubbed his tired eyes, he had lost count on how long he had been working on it for. It had gotten him nowhere, superglue and duct tape seemed to have no effect. Getting slightly frustrated, he pushed the pile of books off the desk, the papers spreading across the floor. He stood up and started rubbing his head, maybe the relic thing wouldn't be as easy as he once thought. Maybe because he wasn't a Naga, it wasn't working properly. He decided to just get some sleep instead, Drew would definitely the effects of staying up all night on him in the morning. So he decided to get some sleep instead.

He'd been sleeping better since he had started staying with the Saturdays anyway. Van Rook never spent any good money on furniture at his place, he just hoarded his earnings instead, so the mattresses were ancient and creaky. Van Rook never did spend any decent money on home comforts. Then again they did have something in common, they both had a messy sleep space. As Doyle had to push his clothes and gadgets off the bed just to crawl under the duvet.

Turn out the light.

Get some sleep.

A light begins to shine from the desk, a dull but eerie orange glow

Roll over, kick the jetpack off the corner of the bed, pull the pillow over your head trying to ignore it.

"My servant…."

"What, who is this?"

"My servant I have a task for you"

Place your ears over your head trying to ignore the hissing in your ear.

"What, what do you want?"

"You will aid me, foolish male human"

"I will?"

"Yes, I, your master commands it"

"master?"

"You will bring the Lemurian to me"

"The lemurian?"

"The lemurian"

"Bring him to you master?"

"That's it human, that's it loyal one just as we've discuss— "

"GET OUT!"

…..

"GET OUT! STOP IT! GET OUT OF MY HEAD"

"Very well human, but there is no escape for you, I already have you in my claws…."

Doyle sprang out of bed with a cry, head in his hands. The relic was still on the desk, glowing hot. He ambled over and shoved it into a bag, then threw it into the wardrobe and closed the latch, panting heavily.

"What on earth was that" he whimpered, rubbing the back of his neck. He slumped down against the wall and sighed. That voice, it sounded like the serpent woman they had fought earlier, but why was she talking to him like that, servant? Master? Lemurian? Dreaming, that must be it.

"Snake nightmares, just what I wanted" He groaned, stumbling around in the dark trying to find his bed. Cursing softly as he stepped on what he assumed was his grappling gun, he fell back into bed, trying his hardest not to think about anything to do with snakes or Nagas.

Everything went quiet.

He turned out the light.

The voices hung back, at least for now.

 _ **Note: The conversation in the middle is between Rani Naga and Doyle, it is supposed to be like a telecommunication thing due to the relic, sorry**_

 _ **if I confused you all. So go ahead, review and tell me what you think.**_


	3. Cornered

**Hope everyone had a happy new year! This chapter is a little longer that the rest, so it took a little longer to finish. Enjoy !**

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"Come on Doyle! Get up! The secret scientists are here!", A young voice yelled from the opposite side of the door.

"Huh, wha?" Doyle yawned, sitting up and stretching in bed, what "What time is it?"

"It's morning Doyle, mom wants you to get up already" Zak called, now banging on the door with his fist instead.

"Alright, alright I'm awake, just give me a minute okay?" He said stumbling out of bed in the direction of the bathroom. He could hear the humming of Beeman's ship from outside whilst he went to grab a comb to cure his bedhead but as soon as he lifted his arm into the view of the mirror…. The comb dropped to the ground with a soft thud, Doyle stood paralysed in shock. There was something peculiar on his right arm, spanning from shoulder to elbow. At first glance it appeared to be like some kind of tattoo, but it was jet black and felt odd to the touch. It burned, almost like it was welded to his skin. The design itself was something that he would never find himself getting as a tattoo of. It consisted of two snakes, weaved in and around each other, with a few flame shapes around the edges, it looked like something carved into the Kur stone. "SNAKES? WHY SNAKES?" he yelled "OKAY ZAK! Nice prank, now can you tell me how get this thing off my arm?". Doyle growled under his breath and turned back to the marking.

Doyle tried everything to get it off. He tried to wash it off by soaking it in the sink, but the ink wouldn't budge, he tried peeling it off like a sticker, he even tried hair spray and nail polish remover, but it wouldn't come off. The skin around it was beginning to turn red from the scrubbing and it itched and burned like a raw rash, so in the end he bandaged it, layer after layer until he could no longer see the outline of the snakes or symbols. By now he was already late and by the time he got down to the hanger, an argument had broken out. Drew noted his entrance, but then her eyes trailed down to his poorly bandaged arm.

"What did you do to your arm?" She asked curiously.

"Err… well I kinda fell over in the shower and cut myself" He lied, grinning and rubbing the back of his neck.

Drew rolled her eyes and turned back to Epsilon, who was currently arguing with Doc.

"Well I don't much care about your policies Epsilon" He said coldly to the scientist and grey man.

Doyle's eyes flicked over to where Komodo was sneaking over to the griffin, the lizard somehow activated the engines and a trail of smoke clouded the room as fisk and Zak made their escape. Doyle couldn't help but smirk, that kid never missed a beat, then he turned his head back to the advancing scientists.

…..

It had been an hour since Zak and the cryptids had escaped and now the secret scientists, along with sis and Doc, were analysing the footage of the gorilla cat on his midnight rampage. My arm was still tingling and I had to resist the urge to scratch it. I was getting really bored of this debate and so was Drew, she was arguing with Epsilon who was blocking the way to the airship. I was seriously bored of this now. I grabbed the arm of one of Epsilons "people", winced as my arm flared up and tossed him into the air. Everyone else seemed to follow my lead and start to fight, although 3 vs 8 isn't a very fair fight, but we managed to reach the airship, closely pursued by the scientists. Once aboard Doc and Drew started making plans to rescue Zak from the so called "Mondays" that they thought were behind this. I was told to keep an eye on the newsfeeds, to watch for any possible clue to where they could have gone.

After about five minutes of checking the news feeds, my arm began to throb, this time on the back of my hand, I pulled off my gloves to find another mark, it was faint, but it was starting to show through on my skin. This one wasn't a snake, it was a distorted spiral. I pulled my glove back on to hide it, but it didn't stop the pain, it made it spread. My head began to reel, the room spinning violently. I dropped to my knees, gasping for air, holding my head in my hands.

….

"NOT AGAIN!" Doyle cried at the top of his voice as the markings began to glow a strange colour.

"Oh yes my servant, did you think you could escape a dark queens mighty power"

"YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER ME!"

"Oh but I do, you're only human, I can bend your mind to my will"

"How, h-how are you doing this you freak!"

"It is unwise to insult me fleshling, I speak on behalf of Kur and soon, you will too"

"Who's side do you think I'm on"

"That isn't your choice" She hissed, closing the gap on the resistance Doyle's mind was trying to muster, causing the ex-mercenary's pain to worsen to a point where he began to writhe around on the floor.

"If you stop resisting human, the pain will subside" It worked, Doyle's headache became to exhausting and he gave up fighting the inevitable and in almost an instant, Rani was able to pounce on his subconscious.

"Now my servant, can you tell where the Lemurian is?"

"Tell you where the Lemurian is?"

"Tell me"

"Not here, searching for him, is lost" were the only words Doyle's overloaded brain could muster.

"WHAT! Where is the boy then instead?"

"Lost too, with the Lemurian, trying to find him"

"Oh you humans are absolutely useless; you can't even keep track of your own young! I shall return later servant; you'd best remember this is our little secret"

"Yes master, I understand…"

Doyle's mind was released immediately and he sprang up with a start, grasping his arm, breathing heavily. He pulled off his glove to find the marking fully formed and that a similar marking was forming on his other hand and that his fingertips on both hands were turning black and becoming slightly rough, scaly even.

"This, this can't be real, what's happening to me?" He whimpered, standing up and turning back to the computer screen. He noticed a familiar sight one the monitor, Fiskerton was smashing windows and flipping cars with the Eiffel Tower in the background. "Paris" He said weakly, wandering back to the bridge to alert his sister and brother in law.

"Got something. News wires lighting up all over France, monster animals attacking Paris"

* * *

 **Poor Doyle, that got nasty fast, expect the next chapter mid next week.**


	4. Conceal

**Okay so first off I'm sorry to those people who reviewed, because of the problem with fanfiction which doesn't let me read any new reviews, this problem has been around since boxing day and I'm surprised its not been fixed yet, so if those reviews do get deleted I'll be annoyed because I really wanted to read then. Oh well, here's the next chapter, now with more Zak and Fisk.**

* * *

We reached Paris in record time and put a stop to Zak Monday, saved the world, all that heroic stuff. I needed to get back to work on the relic, maybe fixing it would reverse this thing that I'm changing into, I'm still not admitting Drew is right though. After a plenary in one of the 100 or so rooms in the house, I dashed back to where I had stashed the relic away. It wasn't how I had left it, it wasn't glowing but it was still in pieces, more work for me. I was about to start when I heard a loud knocking on the door, again.

"Doyle! Since mom said I could stay up for 15 minutes longer than usual, do you want to try out my new video game, alien airstrike 3? Zak shouted excitedly. The kid was determined I'll give him that.

"Sorry Miniman, I'm busy right now, maybe tomorrow".

"But you said you were taking me on a training mission tomorrow!" He whined. I had forgotten about that.

"Sorry Zak, its important, can't talk right now".

"Please! Please uncle Doyle! I promise I won't ever steal from your concussion grenade storage again!".

"What?"

"Nothing".

"Alright, alright, I'll come out".

"Yes!"

….

For the next half hour, they played alien strike 3. At some point Fisk made his way into the room and sat on the floor, shouting and clapping his hands (and feet) and high fiving Zak whenever he won a round, which was a lot because Doyle wasn't entirely concentrating, his nails were hurting and his scales were beginning to tear into his gloves.

"You aren't very good at this Doyle, are you losing your touch?" He asked, elbowing me him the ribs.

"Not at all, I'm just tired is all", he said, yawning and cracking his back. Zak looked at him.

"Maybe if you took your gloves off".

"NO, DON'T… I mean"

But Fisk had already listened in and pulled the glove off his right hand, exposing the mutation underneath.

"Woah" Zak cringed, moving back, "What's wrong with your hand?!"

"Ebuzzur" Fisk cried, lifting said hand.

Even Doyle himself cringed and gasped at how much more bizarre his changes had become. The marking hadn't changed, but the black scales that were once on his fingertips only, had started sprouting on his knuckles and his nails were beginning to blacken, becoming slightly pointed like claws. Fisk curiously reached down and tugged on one of the scales, when it wouldn't budge, he gave it a sharp yank and tore it from Doyle's skin. A trickle of blood ran down from where the scale once was.

"OUCH! Do you mind? Those are attached to me you know!" Doyle scolded, cradling his hand.

"Hebuzurer?" Fisk garbled, examining the scale in his hand, then handing it back to a rather angry looking Doyle.

"What did you do?" Zak asked, touching one of the shiny black, diamond shaped scales.

"I DON'T KNOW!"

"Does mom know?"

Doyle's head shot up and a sinister grin appeared on Zak's face.

"Don't you dare" Doyle said, glaring at his nephew.

"OH MOM" Zak called loudly before Doyle clapped a hand over his mouth.

"Don't" He warned. Zak peeled Doyle's hand from his face.

"On one condition".

"What?"

"That you buy me a jetpack for Christmas", Zak smiled innocently.

"WHAT! No way Miniman, your parents would kill me".

"Fine then I'll tell dad instead".

"Alright alright fine! Just don't tell anyone else" He said, standing up from the sofa, snatching his glove and stomping over to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To fix my hand!" He yelled, slamming the door as he left.

...

The next hour was a painful ordeal of tweezers, bandages and anti-itch cream. Doyle pulled out the 100 or so scales on both hands using things he had found rooting through the bathroom cabinet, tweezers, scissors, wax strips and razors. He had to pull of each one individually with the tweezers which was painful enough, but because the scales were so small and difficult to grasp, it left tiny holes all over his hands, which wept blood so he had to bandage his sore bloody knuckles. He then had to cut and file his claws and in the end decided that his excuse for the nail colour was that he trapped them in a door. He removed his other bandages to see that the mark was still there. He checked his other arm and sure enough, there was more beginning to show up. One on his upper arm (a jagged lightning strike) and one on the back of his hand – a crescent shape. He didn't bother to bandage them, it would look too obvious, so instead he began work on the relic.

He decided it would be a lot easier to fix the smaller parts first, so he took one of the smaller gems, superglued the bottom and stuck it in the hole at the top. It went from pink to orange. Doyle rejoiced at first, but then jumped back as streaks of orange power began to jump out from the now white hot orb. The glow got brighter and brighter until the mysterious aura completely covered the room. When it faded away, he saw that he was no longer in his room, or even in the Saturday compound, he was in a tomb of some sort. A brick tunnel, with glowing carvings just like the ones on his skin, the carvings were the only light source, so he found himself stumbling around trying to find his bearings. He began to hear a hissing coming from behind him and his suspicion told him to run, but he couldn't because whenever he started running, he always ended back where he started. The hissing got louder and louder until a pair of red eyes came into view. Doyle stayed rooted to the spot and readied his fists, wincing as the Naga Queen made herself know and began to circle the confused mercenary.

"Relax human, this is an illusion that I have planted in your mind, none of this is real apart from you, you aren't going to be harmed as long as you cooperate, that's not what I brought you here for".

"Then why am I here?"

"Because I feel that I should give you a hint about your current predicament human".

"Why? I'm handling this perfectly by myself" he snapped, eyeing her nervously.

"Are you sure? I didn't think you liked what you've become"

"Heh, I still look better than you don't I?". This angered Rani Nagi and she crushed him against the wall with her tail.

"Arrogant ape creature, talk like that and you won't get the cure" She purred, scraping her claws down the wall.

"The cure?"

"Yes the cure, my dark magic has seeped through the cracks in the relic when it was broken, you touched it so now it's inside you, altering your body, changing the way you think, after all, why do you think all of Kur's servants are cryptids? Fleshlings are way too weak without their technology".

There was a moment of thought and Doyle actually recoiled in fear whilst Rani began to wrap her thick tail around him, constricting him like a snake does to its prey.

"You repair those cracks now human and you will keep your pitiful human body from getting any worse, but what can you offer me in return human, what can you offer Kur?"

"I don't bargain with my enemies lady".

"Oh is that so?" She began to squeeze him tighter to the point where he was gasping for breath.

"What do you want in exchange then?"

"I want you to bring me the relic and I want you to sabotage Argost's search, he is foolish too, a fleshling could never control an ancient beast of mass destruction like Kur".

"Or else?" Doyle asked, because he knew it was coming.

"Or else I let you change into a rampant beast ready to serve my every command and I turn you against your own family".

"Done, but you better not cheat me" He growled, wriggling in her grasp.

"That's all I wanted to hear".

The white aura returned and blinded Doyle and when it cleared, he found that he was back in the house and that the relic was still on the table. He scrambled up and began immediately sealing the cracks in the relic, desperately hoping to stop any more of the dark magic from leaking onto him. He worked for 3 hours straight and because his fingertips had been exposed to the surface of the relic, the poor mercenary had grown a new set of fingertip scales and his nails were beginning to grow into claws. He got into bed that night irritable and uncomfortable after plucking all of the scales from his fingers again. He was covered in scratchy bandages, with each of his fingertips hidden under plasters. Doyle was so exhausted that he fell asleep within ten minutes of lying down, so he didn't hear the whisper that passed through his room that night.

"Your foot is in my snare human and I'm not cutting the rope to set you free".

"If you think that you're a monster now, you have no idea the extent of my power".

"I bid you farewell human and I extend welcome to my new servant".

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 **Even though I didn't get emails about reviews, I did see the people who faved/followed this story. thank you! The next few chapters are going to be mainly action so say goodbye to the long speech lines for now!**


	5. Juncture

**I know what I said about the speaking lines but that is for next chapter instead now XD. Yay! Reviews are back so its time to thank those who reviewed.**

DementedDesireofMusic: Yeah, I only seem to write for dead shows/fandoms

loosecat56: Thanks for the constrictive criticism, I never criticize my own writing so I need it. I tried to fix the random the random perspective jumps in this chapter. As for the chapter 3 review, Doyle was supposed to be in another room and the scientists were supposed to be on their own ship, like in the episode, sorry if I didn't make it clear enough.

 **On with the story!**

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Chapter 5 – Juncture

Zak awoke earlier than usual the next morning, eager to head out with his uncle into the unknown. Fisk popped his head round the open door in response to the rustling and rattling Zak was making whilst packing his bag.

"Uburuza?" Fisk asked, pointing towards the rucksack.

"It's for training Fisk" Zak answered, grabbing the claw from his bedside. "Doyle is gonna give me my final test today, he won't tell me where we're going, but he said we're taking his jet to get there." Zak finished packing his bag and ran down to the kitchen with Fisk following, to find is mom making breakfast. "Looks great mom" he said enthusiastically, noticing the stack of pancakes on the table. Drew smiled at her son and placed a glass of orange juice on the table for him.

"You seem excited sweetie" she chuckled, ruffling his hair.

"Is uncle Doyle up yet? He said we'd be leaving at 10."

"I haven't seen him honey, he might be in the hangar by his jet."

"His door is closed and the lights are off in his room, I'm pretty sure he's still asleep mom." Fisk, who was standing behind Zak with a piece of toast sticking out of his mouth, started making snoring noises to emphasise Zak's point.

"In that case I'll go wake him up, he gets awfully grumpy when someone disturbs his sleep" Drew said, walking off back down the corridor to Doyle's room. When she got there she stopped and put her ear against the door and heard deep rhythmic snoring. "Doyle! Wake up!" She shouted, banging on the door. She listened again and he was still snoring. "Oh Doyle, I'm going to feed your breakfast to komodo!" She cried in a singsong manner but groaned when she still heard him snoring. "Alright Doyle I'm getting the ice! You brought this on yourself!" She called heading off back down the hall. She went back to the kitchen and watched by Zak and Fisk, she grabbed a couple of ice cubes and left. She went back to Doyle's room and opened the door slightly. Doyle was lying on his front in bed, his leg hanging over the edge of the bed and he was drooling slightly. Drew walked in, pulled the duvet back and slipped the now melting ice cubes under his tee shirt that he was wearing.

He rolled over and made a face, then opened his eyes and started at the ceiling for a second before realisation hit him. He sprung out of bed with a yelp and landed with a thud at Drew's feet, a terrified look on his no longer tired face. Drew burst out laughing, pointing at Doyle's scowling face.

"Don't you ever get bored of that?" He growled, shaking the rest of the ice out of his shirt.

"Nope, your expression is priceless every time!" She laughed, offering a hand to help him up.

He took it and stood up, "What was that for anyway? I did nothing to you!"

"You were going to be late for training, Zak wants to know why you aren't already awake."

"You could've killed me"

"Hah, I doubt it… wait, what's that on your arm and… oh your hands! Did you have an accident with the cheese grater again?" She reached forwards to touch the bandage.

"Don't touch it!" Doyle snapped, pulling his bandaged fists away from her.

"Come on just let me have a look, it might get infected if you don't clean it properly" She said sympathetically.

"Look sis just stop touching me, I'm fine, really, now go plague someone else will ya? I need to get ready" He snapped.

"Excuse me? Alright I'll leave but sleep with your eyes open brother, I'll get you back for that" She said, leaving the room and shutting the door. Doyle sighed and unwrapped his hands to check them. He rejoiced under his breath when he saw that he was scale free and only small scabs and marks remained. He re-bandaged them to avoid anyone seeing the marks on his palms and pulled his sleeve down to hide the one above his elbow that he hadn't bandaged. He dressed himself then grabbed his jetpack, concussion grenades and shoulder bag full of whatever else he needed before heading out to the hangar. He was surprised to see Zak already down there waiting for him.

"Hey kiddo" He said smiling "Ready to go?" Zak nodded and Doyle lifted him up onto the wing of the jet so he was able to climb into the cabin. He threw the bags up to Zak who caught them and stashed them in the back somewhere. Doyle moved round behind the jet to check the engines and wings whilst Drew stood with her husband nearby, watching the two. Fisk was with them, chirping happily, waving goodbye to the duo. Doc looked concerned so Drew turned to her husband and put an arm around him.

"Relax honey, they'll be back before you know it, besides you're the one who asked him to train Zak." She said reassuringly.

"And now I wish I hadn't." Doc sighed "You know I don't trust your maniac brother."

"I know how reckless, untrustworthy and annoying he can be Doc but he does care for Zak and he did this out of kindness, he never asked for money in exchange for training Zak."

"I still don't trust him completely Drew, anyone could revert back to bad ways after being raised how he was"

"Relax big guy, just think, we can spend the day together without our son or my brother disturbing us" Drew said, kissing his cheek. Their conversation was interrupted by a loud roaring as Doyle started up the engines and the jet began to move forward. Drew, Doc and Fisk waved goodbye as the jet flew out of the hangar out of the hatch into the open blue skies beyond. The trio on the ground watched happily as the jet flew out of sight and up into the clouds.

….

"So Doyle, how long till we get there?" Zak asked curiously, looking over the seat at Doyle who was at the controls, banking the plane gently to the left.

"An hour or so Zakman" He responded.

"How easy is it to fly that thing?" He asked, pointing at some of the buttons.

"Not easy enough to let you fly it, this baby is expensive enough without adding damage costs."

"Is this what you spent dad's money on?"

"Most of it." Doyle leaned back and sighed, this was going to be a long flight. He was right, it would have been, but Doyle began to feel ill about half an hour into the flight, his body tensing, his hands beginning to shake at the controls. Zak noticed at waved a hand in front of his face, asking if he was alright. The man still had his hands on the controls, but he was shaking and Zak could almost feel Doyle's heart hammering against his ribs. Suddenly he let out a shriek and the plane began to spiral out of control as Doyle put his head in his hands, dropping the controls. Zak began to shout in his ear, hammering on his uncle's shoulder, but it was no use, Doyle couldn't hear him. Zak leaned forward and pulled the controls up to stop the plane going into a nose dive whilst he pleaded with his uncle to wake up and take control of the situation….

"Welcome back my servant"

"YOU?! What do you want!"

"I am here t– DOYLE!"

"What?"

"DOYLE! Please, wake up"

"Zak?"

Doyle, come on! Wake up this isn't funny we're going to crash!"

Doyle eyes snapped open just in time to see the mountain ahead of them and managed to pull the control with enough force to miss the mountain at the last second. Doyle gasped for breath until he heard Zak whimpering in the backseat with his hands over his eyes. Doyle reached back with his free hand and tapped him gently. Zak looked scared to tears and as pale as a sheet.

"It's okay Zak I'm alright, I'm gonna turn us around and find us a place to make an emergency landing".

"W-why what's wrong, are we gonna crash, is something wrong with the jet?"

"I'm feeling really faint, I think somethings really wrong with me Zak, I don't want to risk passing out again." Doyle let out another cry and this time grabbed his chest, the aircraft jolting with him.

"Focus Doyle! We can land there, in that field, do you see it? come you have to stay awake!" Zak screamed. Doyle could make out the outline of the field with his hazy double vision and began to lower the jet.

"That's it Doyle! Slow down a little and pull the wheels out!" Doyle did exactly what Zak told him to. The plane continued to lower until Doyle made it touch down on the grass. "That's it Doyle, now the breaks." Nothing. "Doyle! The brakes, pull the breaks!". Nothing. Doyle had gone again and there was a tree coming up. "DOYLE!"

"That's it my servant, don't listen to the boy."

"No…I, I need to stop the jet, I need to save Zak."

"No, the boy needs to perish anyway, he is of no use to me."

"DOYLE!" the sobbing voice of his nephew tore Rani's connection "WE'RE GONNA DIE!"

"The brakes… the brakes… red buttons on top of the steering Miniman" He responded, barely conscious.

Zak pressed the two buttons down and pulled the controls back as far as he could, tears stinging his mortified eyes. When the impact of the tree came, Doyle was slumped over in the corner of his seat and Zak had taken his seatbelt off so he could lean over and take the controls, so neither of them were protected from the crash. Zak flew forward into Doyle's lap as the windshield shattered and the nose of the plane crumpled into the tree. Doyle sat bolt upright, a bump on the head replacing the dark magic with a dull throbbing as Zak landed on him. He looked around and saw what had happened. The nose had gone between two branches and crushed, stopping the jet and saving their lives. They were both extremely lucky. He shook Zak gently, his nephew looked up at him.

"Are you alright Miniman?" He asked worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm alright but my arm…I can't move it… it might be broken" Zak stated

Doyle moved round and put his legs over the side of the jet lifting Zak out and putting him into one of the branches.

"Can you climb down?" Doyle asked.

"I think" Zak said, carefully making his way down. Doyle followed but hesitated half way down, frozen in place. "Doyle, what's the matter? What is it?" Zak asked from the ground.

"Pity, you both survived, I shall have to make you kill the boy instead."

"What?"

"I said kill the b—."

*Thump*

Doyle fell straight to the floor as soon as he let go having lost consciousness, he landed in the grass next to Zak.

"Doyle! Are you alright?" Zak asked, shaking his shoulder gently.

"No. Ugh I don't understand why this is happening, she said it wouldn't get any worse" Doyle groaned, rubbing the bump on his head.

"Who said what? Doyle what are you talking about? And I thought you said you sorted the scales out."

"I did"

"Then what's that on your wrist?"

…..


	6. Brutal Transmutation

**Chapter release dates are going to slow down for a little while, I have exams to revise for. Anyway, don't give me too much grief on punctuation on this one. I got a review saying that I was putting the comas in the wrong place, I'm assuming that's the American way of punctuating sentences as google says US grammar puts them inside the speech marks whilst UK grammar puts them outside, that's how I was taught it anyway, so I'm sorry about that. Thanks for the review though, I'm sorry that I just burned it :P.**

 **This chapter is a bit more brutal so be warned , enjoy and review if you want to**

* * *

…..

"I thought you said you sorted the scales out?"

"I did."

"Then what's that on your wrist?"

…..

Doyle stared at his arm and gasped. New patches of scales had started sprouting on his wrists. He stuttered and faltered, failing to utter a complete syllable.

"Doyle, what's happening to you? You look like you're turning into some kind of cryptid", Zak said, lifting his hand, looking concerned. Doyle looked ashamed. He tried to jerk his hand away when Zak began to unravel the bandages on Doyle's hands using his good arm and both he and his uncle grimaced when they saw the glowing marks and scales that were popping up all over Doyle's digits. Doyle brushed off the help Zak was trying to give him, stood up and began pacing the crash site. He moved back to the side of the jet before collapsing against it, breathing heavily. Zak approached him, worried, but Doyle signalled for him to stay back. He ignored it and walked forward to put a hand out to place on his shoulder but jerked it back when Doyle doubled over with a cry, his face contorting in pain. Zak watched what was unfolding in horror, shivering every time Doyle screamed. His nails were beginning to look more and more animalistic, not human at all, if anything, they looked like komodo's claws, only smaller yet just as sharp. He dug them into the side of his jet, dragging them through the paintwork, creating large scratches and an awful screeching noise, his breath ragged, his muscles straining. He was glowing like a lightbulb, the different symbols all lit up. He took his hands out of the marred metal and stared at them in disbelief before dropping down onto his knees, groaning in obvious pain. Doyle felt his mind once again dip out of reality as he fell into the abyss.

"HA! Feeling my power now you fool!"

"YOU! Why am I changing?!"

"You're changing because I want you to human."

"You tricked me!"

"Of course I did fleshling; did you expect a Dark Queen to keep her promises?"

"I never should have trusted you!"

"Out of all the humans I have trapped, you must be the most insolent, you believed that there was a way back from the start! Why would you think that I would spare the ones who deny Kur his freedom?!"

"I hate you."

"Your opinions are irrelevant, your human mind may be rebellious but I can make you behave like a bloodthirsty beast for as long I please, I'm just giving you the body to match."

….

"I can and will make you kill human, as I said before, I can change you from pathetic man to Savage beast, that is your fate."

"It is?"

"See human, you are already questioning your own decisions, you will have no human traits soon, no compassion, no fear, only a fierce desire to serve and serve you shall, up until your dying breath."

"Serve you?"

"Yes, you will eliminate your "former" family, I have no use for any beings who are against Kur and you shall start by slaying the boy."

Something inside Doyle's bewitched mind snapped and bent and he lunged for his nephew who was standing beside him. Zak jumped back in surprise, stumbling over.

"Doyle, what's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that", Zak asked. Doyle's stare was ice cold, he moved nor his lips nor his body, he just focused on Zak, claws poised to strike. He made his move when Zak least expected it and grabbed the boy by the collar in a matter of seconds, pinning him against the tree. Zak was both confused and frightened as Doyle stood stock still, holding him up by the neck alone. Doyle shifted his grip and leaned into the boy and Zak saw more scales growing on his uncle's neck. He was lifted higher until he was looking directly into the mindless man's eyes that were focusing on nothing.

"Doyle! Stop it, you're freaking me out!", Zak cried. He tried to squirm out of his arms but Doyle's fists had grips of iron and he was able to hold his nephew effortlessly like he was restraining a small animal or a rodent. He lowered the boy slightly and opened his mouth a little, revealing a newly acquired set of fangs and to Zak's horror a black, forked snake tongue. Zak felt it brush against his cheek along with Doyle's ragged breathing. Zak wondered why he was so close to him; it was almost like he was going to bite. The man raised his lips and began to snarl, a low inhuman sound emulating from the back of his throat. He shifted his grip from neck to arms, trying to hold Zak still by sinking his claws through Zak's shirt and into his skin.

"OW, OW, OW! Doyle that hurts! Let go, stop it! You're hurting me!", Zak cried, begging Doyle to release his broken arm. "DOYLE! Can you hear me in there! It's me Zak!"

"Zak?", Doyle asked, his cold silence returning to his normal voice, his eyes focusing on Zak. He immediately dropped him and backed away. Zak cradled his injured limb whilst Doyle looked on from a safe distance, going wide eyed as he saw the small tears his claws had made in Zak's shirt. Zak got up, but grabbed the claw before making his way over to Doyle, who moved back as soon as he spotted his nephew.

"Miniman! Are you alright?! What did I do to you?", Doyle asked fearfully.

"You attacked me Doyle. Why?", Zak asked, still weary of him. Doyle once again dropped to his knees and covered his face, shaking his head in dismay. Zak watched in horror as poor Doyle continued to shift forms. His hair began to darken at the ends, turning jet black, the areas around his eyes followed, black freckles and marks showing up like ink blots on his white skin eventually joining and becoming black distorted rings around his eyes. The whites of his eyes became pure black, his irises went from blue to orange (the same shade of his markings) and his pupils became slit like those of a cat. Doyle was nearly overrun by new desires and instincts as his panic became blind rage.

"Zak!", He cried desperately, looking towards his terrified nephew. "Zak! You have to get out of here!"

"I'm not leaving you alone in this condition!", Zak shouted back. "Who knows what you could do!"

"NO ZAK! Listen, I'm being controlled, I can't control my body, whatever's inside me, it wants you dead."

"Doyle, I don't understand, what's controlling you, who's doing this to you?"

"There's no time for that Zak! You need to run; you need to get as far away from me as you can!"

"Doyle?", Zak whispered.

"I will try and hold myself back as long as I can but as soon as I lose control, I will chase you and if I catch you and I WILL hurt you", Doyle was by now nearly hysterical.

"Doyle! I know you wouldn't do that!"

"You saw what I just did, if you hadn't have woken me up, I would've seriously hurt you. Zak please! Grab some of my concussion grenades, take the video phone, find somewhere safe and try to call your parents, tell them to get you out no matter what."

"Doyle please."

"Zak! Go on! Get out of here! NOW! RUN!", Zak finally just gave in, grabbed his stuff and made a beeline for the nearby trees. The whole time Doyle screaming for him not to look back, just to keep running.

"Good luck kid…you're on your own…I'm so sorry", were the least words of sanity that Doyle was able to speak before everything went black.

"Transformation complete. Now find and slay the child my servant."

…

Zak sprinted through the woods as fast as his legs would allow him, not daring to look back to see if he was being followed. If Doyle was nearby, he would have surely heard the sound of crunching leaves along with Zak's loud breathing. Zak ran for what he thought must have been a good 5 minutes before stopping to rest. He leant against one of the trees, panting. He scanned the entire area, no sign of Doyle but there were so many places he could hide, he could leap out from nowhere in an instant and knock the Saturday boy to the floor. Zak didn't know what to do, he had learnt all of these methods from Doyle, but now that the terror was all too real Zak felt helpless and alone. It wasn't Argost or Van Rook, who would only to be a danger for him if he was to interfere with their criminal deeds but his own uncle and he was out to kill. The thought scared him. He tried to clear the echoing of impending doom in his ears and put his head to one thought…

What would Doyle do at a time like this?

*Flashback*

The humid summer heat shone down onto Zak's face as he wandered through the trees surrounding his home. He was looking for his uncle who he was supposed to be playing capture the flag with as part of his training.

"Come on Doyle, at least give me a hint or something!", I'm starting to think you've just gone home to cool off and eat the rest of the ice cream in the fridge, deliberately leaving me to melt out here!", Zak wiped his brow and continued to pant like a dog. "You cheat just like Wadi does!", He declared. But grunted when he was hit in the back on the head with a pinecone.

"No I don't."

Zak picked up the pinecone and scanned the trees to see Doyle sitting high up in one of the branches. He had one hand behind his back, a pinecone in the other and all in all looked rather pleased with himself.

"What!? I must have checked the trees about a thousand times!", Zak cried.

"Listen Miniman", Doyle said, jumping out of the tree and lowering himself down with his jetpack. The best thing to do if you're being chased and your pursuer isn't airborne is to get to high ground."

"High ground?", Zak asked, slumping down against the tree that Doyle was previously sat in.

"Yep, somewhere where you can get a good vantage point, then you can hide or move when you see anyone coming."

"Thanks, I'll remember that."

"Now, how about I try being the seeker?", Doyle said, bringing out the flag, tossing it to Zak, then ruffling the boy's hair."

…

High ground. Zak took the claw and shot the grappling end out towards the nearest tall tree. It wrapped around the largest branch and Zak hoisted himself up, making himself steady in the branches as quickly as he could. About a minute later, Zak began to hear the leaves crunching again and Doyle burst through the undergrowth and skidded to a halt a few feet from Zak's tree. Zak held his breath, trying to stay as quiet as possible for fear that Doyle could and would pick up any noise he made. The man began to look around, sniffing the air, just like a cryptid would. Zak hoped he would leave, but it soon became clear that he wasn't passing on at all. He just lay in wait, like a fox waits for an unsuspecting rabbit to emerge from its burrow. One of the them would soon make a mistake by chance it happened to be Zak. He moved one of his feet and knocked a twig loose. It fell. Landing at Doyle's feet. The man immediately spun round and locked eyes with the boy in the tree. Zak's eyes widened with fear, Doyle's narrowed with murderous intent. The man took a few steps back and then ran full speed at the tree. He jumped and latched onto the tree with his claws. He began to climb, getting faster and faster, closer and closer to Zak. He reached the top and swung at Zak, catching his shirt and nearly knocking the boy completely out of the tree.

Zak used the claw to grapple into another tree before Doyle could grab him and began to move through the trees, fearing for his life. He continued this until the trees disappeared and then used the claw to get across a ditch. He paused and looked back to see Doyle leap over the hole with almost little effort, landing on his feet. Fortunately, Zak had already seen his saviour in the form of a large farm just down the hill. He could lose Doyle in there. Zak continued running until he reached a paddock of cows. The large animals were undisturbed by Zak, but were immediately spooked by Doyle, so much so that he ended up being chased down by some of the bulls in the field. Zak continued to run until he reached one of the barns. He dashed inside and closed the door behind him. Then climbed a ladder (nearly falling off due to fact he was climbing one handed) into the hayloft and hid amongst the bales. He took out his video phone, Doyle couldn't possibly hear him over the cries of the chaos he was causing outside. Zak dialled and the phone rang.

"Come on, please, please pick up the phone", Zak begged. He breathed a sigh of relief as his Mom's face appeared on the screen, she was about to greet her son but she noticed his distraught face.

"Zak honey are you alright?", She asked, seeing her son's torn shirt, muddy face and fearful eyes.

"It's Doyle. Something's wrong with Doyle", Zak choked.

"Wrong? baby where are you?"

"I don't know, we crash landed somewhere and he started to change."

"What, change how?!"

"I don't know! He started to change into some kind of cryptid, I don't know why mom, he wouldn't tell me. He just snapped! He told me to run, t-then to get somewhere s-safe and call you. He said whatever was controlling him wanted me dead. He started to chase me mom, he attacked me, he's still outside, t-trying to find me!", Zak was hysterical.

"Zak stay where you are, we can track your signal, stay safe honey we'll get there to help you both as soon we can, I don't know what's going on, but I'm sure we ca— "

…..

Drew gasped as the line suddenly went to static, then to black. She tried countless times to call him back, but he didn't answer. She rushed out of the room and straight to the lab where she knew her husband was working. He was confused when she burst into the room looking close to tears. When he asked her what was wrong she nearly collapsed into his arms.

"Something happened Doc! We have to go and find them!", She cried.

"Zak and Doyle?", Doc asked, concern showing up on his face.

"Zak called me, they crash landed somewhere, he said something happened to Doyle, that he underwent somekind of change."…..

"Change? In what way?"

"Zak described it as cryptid like, he said that afterwards Doyle started chasing him, trying to attack him."

"Can you track them?"

"I have the signal from the phone."

"Then lets go save our son.", Doc shouted, slamming down his research and arming himself with his battle glove.

…...

They had boarded and sped off in the airship within ten minutes of getting the news, fisk and Komodo accompanying them. They flew over the area, scanning for the GPS signal in the phone and they weren't having any luck.

"This is useless, we need to search from the ground!", Drew shouted, turning the airship around for the 3rd time.

"I'll prep the engines for landing soon we can touch down in that field", Doc stated but then squinted his eyes when looking at the ground below, "Wait is that?"

"Doyle's jet", Drew whispered, choking back her fear.

Doc immediately set the blimp down next to the wrecked jet, then lowered the ramp so that they could get out as soon as possible. Drew ran up to the mangled wreckage, shouting the names of her son and brother. Doc walked round the back of the jet and examined the crash site.

"They must've tried to land, judging by the marks in the ground, I'd say they were trying to stop", he said, relief in his voice "It looks like they made it out uharmed."

"Doc come and look at this", Drew said, beckoning her husband over to the side of the jet where she had found the deep claw marks in the metal, "What do you think made these?"

Doc furrowed his brow and examined then gashes. "I don't know, there isn't many cryptids with five fingers or toes that have claws like this but I don't know of any that would make marks like this, the little finger and thumb are in the exact same place as they would be on a human hand."

"Do you remember what Zak said? Doyle changed into some sort of cryptid, these could be his."

"What about the bandages", Doc asked, picking up the now muddy rags.

"Those are definitely his, he was wearing them this morning", Drew responded. Doc climbed up into the cabin and began to search through the bags behind the seats.

"Doyle's jetpack is still here, but the claw is gone.",he called, tossing the remeinder of the supplies down to Drew.

"There's more claw marks on the tree here, it looks like there was somekind of fight."

Drew and Doc stopped their search when they noticed Komodo had caught the familiar scent of his "brother" and had gone scampering down into the trees.

"Come on" ,Drew said, waving Doc over "lets find them before they dig themselves into deeper trouble.

…


	7. Cat and mouse

Doc, Drew and Zak's cryptid siblings continued to venture further into the forest looking for any signs of Zak and Doyle. Komodo had lost the scent and was circling the trees, searching until he stopped in front of one of the larger trees.

"Komodo lost the trail, they must've gone another way", Drew sighed, sheathing her sword and shrugging her shoulders.

"I don't think he has, look", Doc said, gesturing up into the tree. About halfway up the tree there was claw marks in the bark, which continued up the trunk into the branches, indicating that whatever it was had climbed into the trees. Upon closer inspection the parents were shocked to find a scrap of Zak's shirt tangled in the tree.

"Zak!", Drew cried "oh Doc what if something happened to him!?"

"He got away, I'm sure of it", Doc reassured, putting an arm around her "See the mark on that first branch? That was made by the claw and there's more of them on those trees over there", he continued, pointing to the trees ahead. He walked over, Drew following. They found about 10 trees with both types of marks on them and continued to follow them until they came across a ditch. Judging by the marks on the rocks on the other side and the situation, they suspected Zak had used the claw to grapple across. Whereas they were shocked to find that judging by the larger footprints, his pursuer had climbed down from the trees and jumped across. Only fisk had the agility to jump across and when he did, he began shouting and pointing to something down the hill.

"Azubruzura!", Doc and Drew came up behind him and looked over the brow of the hill."

"If I was Zak and I was being chased, I bet that's where I'd hide", Doc said, beckoning the others over the so that they could see the farm at the bottom of the hill. Since komodo now had Zak's scent, he was able to retrace Zak's path into the farm. As soon as they stepped into the yard, they were approached by a rather angry looking farmhand. He was armed with a shotgun and it was aimed towards them.

"What do you want?", His voice was rough and agitated.

"We are very sorry to be trespassing, but we are looking for our son, have you by any chance seen a young boy running through here? Short, bi coloured hair, orange shirt" Drew said softly, in order not to anger the man any further.

"I certainly haven't miss, have you a crazed looking scoundrel anywhere around here, he's been terrorising my livestock", He growled, loading his gun.

"I'm afraid we haven't, what does he look like?" Doc asked.

"Like a freak of nature. Tall, snake eyes, bizarre hair, claws, but alas I didn't get a good look at the alien, tried to shoot the maniac down but he got away", the man demonstrated by lifting his gun and taking aim. Doc and Drew looked at each other and for the first time got a near enough full description of who they assumed was Doyle.

"Did you see which way he went?", Drew asked.

"I have a hunch he went back towards the forest", the man replied.

…

Drew and Doc ran back towards the woods, Fisk and Komodo straight behind them.

"Assuming that Zak was right and that was Doyle that the man was describing, I say we have a real problem on our hands", Doc stated, looking over at Drew who was running beside him.

"And assuming that what he said was true, it seems that Doyle's already dodged a few bullets and that there is an imminent threat of either him hurting himself, or somebody else, like Zak", Doc said, activating his power glove.

"Doyle may be a pain of a brother at times, but he definitely does care for Zak and the fact that he is chasing and trying to attack him means that something has gone wrong with him somehow."

"I think that his mutations have something to do with that, if he's changing into some kind of cryptid, then he may be experiecing predatory cryptid instincts, like the urge to hunt and chase."

"But I don't understand why he changed in the first place. What could have possibly made him change forms like that?"

"A practical explanation would be a virus or bacteria however we wont be able to tell until we see him for ourselves, of course we don't know exactly what we're dealing with he-."

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

"Is that your phone Drew?"

"Yes I'm not sure who….", Drew gasped "it's Zak!", Drew answered and saw the familiar face of her child, he looked stressed, scared even but she could also see the walls of the airship interior in the background, indicating that had made it back, "Zak! Oh thank goodness, baby boy are you alright?!"

"MOM! DAD! Where are you?!" Zak cried angrily.

"We're out looking for you Zak, are you okay?", Doc asked seriously.

"You need to get back to the airship, Doyle is trying to break in! I barricaded myself in the kitchen but…"

"Your uncle? Zak are you hurt, did he injure you at all", Drew asked in hysteria.

"My arm is busted pretty bad from the crash and Doyle scratched me but that's about it", Zak answered, turning around, conscious of the banging and scratching that had begun on the locked door, "how soon can you get here!?"

"Just hang on sweetie, I promise we're nearly there, we can see the airship, everything's going to be fine", Drew assured, handing the phone to Doc as they broke through the treeline, straight towards the two vehicles. They raced across the open field and up the ramp into the orange blimp.

"Zak!?", Drew shouted, her voice echoing down the halls, the power was out for some reason so she had limited vision. No answer. "Zak!?" Again. No answer. She checked the phone screen, static. They raced down the halls until they reached the kitchen and they were shocked by what they found. The door was broken off its hinges and was lying part way into the room. Chairs were upturned and glasses were shattered. The trail of destruction lead out through another door and up into one of the other halls, they followed this trail of mass destruction until they reached the engine room. The huge metal pillars weren't spinning as the engines weren't on, but the control panels were alight not with lights but sparks. Doc activated his power glove for a light source to reveal that some of the panels had been scratched and smashed.

"He sure is destructive",Doc said "These turbines are hard to damage, but Doyle made short work of them alright." Doc punched in some numbers in one of the panels, "I'll have to reboot the system."

"So that means keep an eye out for any trouble boys", Drew commanded, turning to Fisk and Komodo. The komodo dragon (nearly invisible in the dark room) hissed whilst the lemurian nodded and saluted Drew, his red eyes standing out into the blackness. She took out her phone once again and tried to call Zak, but heard more than one ring this time. She listened. It was coming from above them. Doc pointed his illuminated glove towards the beams and pipes above them and sure enough there he was, sat curled up on top of one of the pipes in a corner. Zak looked terrible. Bruised, scratched and clutching his arm.

"Zak!" Both parents cried, enveloping him in a tight hug as soon as he climbed down to greet them.

"Shhhh! Are you crazy!? He'll hear us!" Zak whispered, pushing his parents away.

"Oh Zak! You're bleeding!" Drew gasped, noticing a reddened patch on Zak's now torn trouser leg."

"I'm okay mom, but we can't stay here! Doyle could be anywhere!" Zak replied, backing into his mothers arms.

"He's right Drew, we need to get to the bridge and figure out a plan, Doyle is at the advantage now that we're in the dark", Doc said, gesturing to the door.

"Then lets not take our chances", Drew responded, opening the door latch once again and stepping out. The hallways were still pitch black as they made their way down the ship as Doc's glove only provided limited light, but they could see well enough to make out the shapes of doorways and furniture in the hallways. After weaving through the rooms, they began to hear whispering, like a sort of chanting, low and raspy.

"Find them."

"Destroy them."

"Doc, what is that?"

"I have no idea."

"Go ahead servant, tear them apart, prove your loyalty to me."

"Mom, Dad, what's that at the end of the hall?"

There was something at the end of the hall, hunched over by the door. The adults at first thought it was another wrecked ornament, but then saw it to be more human, like a dark crouching figure, sat watching their every move. Drew then made the mistake of calling out to it.

"Doyle? Brother, what are you doing?"

The figure's head snapped to the side, his orange orbs locked onto them. A hostile hiss echoed down the walls as the figure drew himself up to his full height, hesitated and then to Drew's horror, charged full steam ahead towards them…


	8. Contain

**_New chapter! I apologise for the flop in the first paragraph that is supposed to be a fight scene, I need more practice on 3rd person fight scenes. Oh well, enjoy the new chapter_**

 ** _*Please Read the note at the bottom of the chapter*_**

* * *

The seconds that followed all happened in slow motion. Doyle lunged at them, knocking Doc (who had moved in front of Zak to protect him) to the ground with a snarl and a shout. Zak watched in horror as the two wrestled on the floor, Doc struggling with all of his might to keep control of the enraged hybrid. The older man grabbed him by the wrists to prevent being clawed but Doyle sent a sharp kick to his stomach and he loosened his grip. Doc managed to dodge most of the swipes Doyle sent at him but received a sharp slap across the face and was momentarily knocked down. Doyle went for Zak once again but found himself at the end of Drew's blazing sword. He snarled with ferocity and attempted to knock the blaze aside and would have succeeded had Doc not recovered quickly enough to grab the ex-mercenary and restrain him with a strong headlock which took both of them to the floor. Fiskerton grabbed his arms and kept the clawed hands from slicing anyone whilst Drew and Zak stood frozen above. Doyle's arms suddenly lit up once again and Drew gasped when she saw the Sumerian scriptures on his skin.

Zak could feel the blood pounding in his ears as Doyle's cries ran right down his spine. Doyle fought in a ferocious manner, snapping and slashing, just like a dangerous predatory cryptid would. The family had instead gotten into a messy fighting stance, not really wanting to seriously injure Doyle, unfortunately this made them vulnerable as Doyle, or whatever had taken his body by force, was out for blood. His mind had been twisted and gnarled by the black magic to a point where he was totally unnerved by Fisk's shrieking, Doc's shouting and even his sister and nephew's pleas for him to cease. It seemed nearly impossible for Doc (Who was usually able to wrestle with quarter ton animals) to keep any control over Doyle's frenzied strikes, he found it difficult enough to block them, avoiding losing the sight in his other eye. Komodo on the other hand, stopped watching the battle unfold and instead tipped the battle in his master's favour and gave the relentless opponent a quick but effective short sharp bite to the thigh. Doyle's blazing eyes snapped towards the lizard long enough for Doc to turn and give his wife a desperate message.

"Drew! Quick! Go! The cortex disruptor storage!" He cried, taking advantage of Doyle's distraction.

"I'm not leaving you here while he's acting like that!" She shouted, all the while shielding Zak from his uncle's brutality.

"There's no way we possibly stop or at least get through to him whilst he's in this condition, if we don't restrain him, one of us will be on the receiving end of a serious injury! What if he gets to Zak!?"

Drew shook her head, gave her husband a "good luck" glance before racing off down the hall, ushering her son with her, the Tibetan Fire Sword lighting the way for them whilst Doc was left with Komodo and Fisk to hold Doyle off. The other man had momentarily stopped with the rapid strikes and had begun to circle what he assumed was prey, nothing more than a distraction from his target. Doc studied Doyle's every move, never looking away from him. Being a cryptozoologist, Doc was able to scrape every animalistic detail off the other man, the short hoarse breaths, the unemotional eyes, even the slightest twitches in the man's physique all indicating to a disturbance somewhere in his thought process. He acted just like any cryptid would under the control of a neural parasite, going into a stage of perhaps pain, panic and confusion first, maybe even with a hint of fear, then slowly being driven insane, his overloaded brain going into a combination of unbridled aggression and screaming thoughts until becoming obedient, more like a machine than a living organism, only responsive to its controller.

Another twitch from Doyle (who was also bearing his now full set of fangs) made Doc in turn shift positions, which brought him to the question: Was Doyle fighting himself in the first stage, or was he already gone, his controller looking for the right time to make their "robot" strike a blow. Doc supposed it was the second one, as Doyle had no interest whatsoever in listening to anyone and hadn't at any point strayed from attack mode into hesitation. He was definitely being controlled, but Doc couldn't get his mind round who was the culprit. It wasn't Argost, his capabilities hadn't advanced that far and besides, he hadn't noticed any of Argost's parasites on the man. That was more bad than good. If there was some unknown evil force out there that was able to infect and control humans to such an extent, he knew his family was in danger as the unknown force had already taken his brother in law down without raising any suspicion.

Doc readied his fists as Doyle attempted to strike again, but ended up being shoulder barged by the man. Fisk yanked him back by the shirt like a poised dog on a choke chain and as soon as he did, Doyle lashed out, hissing at the Lemurian, he clearly didn't like being contained. That was the problem, his strength may have been inhuman, but his speed was like lightning, which meant that Doyle could lash out at any given moment and behave even more unpredictably that any normal human could before Doc could put up any defences. It was this behaviour that made Doyle so dangerous and it was this behaviour that made him try to bite Fisk in an effort to free himself. It was so disturbing to see that Doc only turned away when he heard the loud cries of his wife and son from down the corridor. It was this one second distraction that gave Doyle the opportunity to pounce.

He jumped and knocked Doc over, clawing him on the way down. He couldn't afford to take his eyes off Doyle, but he did see the green light reflecting off the man's pale skin and realised what Drew was armed with.

"DOC! Hold him there!" …..

…. Drew fired, hitting Doyle in the shoulder with a blast from the reflex disruptor and his arm instantly went to jelly, temporarily numb. Doyle seemed more frustrated than pained by this as he still used his three active limbs to attack Doc. However, he was slightly weakened and Doc managed to pin the man to the ground. Drew fired one more shot, just enough of a dose to get him to lie still before pulling out another weapon of some descript. Zak, looked slightly put off by the gun-like appearance but Drew held it firm and steady.

"Why are you using the bipedal cryptid tranquiliser gun?" Doc asked, still wary of Doyle.

"Because usually the reflex disruptor on a dose that strong can paralyze a human for up to 2 hours with one hit, so I don't think a human sedative will be strong enough to sedate him enough so that we can move him into a cell without causing harm to anyone", Drew answered, raising the gun and aiming for a vein to ensure a quick knock out effect. After she fired the dart, it took about five minutes for Doyle to become totally unconscious but his eyelids eventually drooped and unknown to the Saturdays, fatigue severed Rani Nagi's control over him. Drew sank to her knees with relief and wiped her brow, dropping her weapons. Doc took a step back and looked down at Doyle in disbelief, whereas Drew knelt down beside him and bit her lit when she noticed the scales on his neck and arms along with the ends of his fangs that were protruding from his now nearly black lips she then lifted his right hand to examine it. She traced her fingers over the smooth black scales, paying attention to the marking inked over them.

"These markings look like Sumerian", Drew said "Like the carvings on the Kur stone."

"Whatever the case, we can examine him later, we have no idea what kind of effects the drugs will have on him, he could change in an instant and besides, Zak needs medical attention", Doc said, gesturing to Zak who was rubbing his assumingly broken arm.

Drew walked over and put an arm around her son, "I'll take Zak to the infirmary and then I'll head down to the lab and try and find out what this "thing" is that were dealing with", She instructed, leading Zak off down the halls.

"I'll meet you there after I put Doyle in the holding area, the power is due to come back on in the next few minutes anyway", her husband called back. Zak turned around in time to see Fisk nervously pick Doyle up and follow Doc down the opposite side of the hall. When they did finally reach the med bay, the power had come on as Doc had suspected and Drew was able to take a quick scan of his arm.

"It's nothing too serious sweetie, only a small fracture, you'll be fine", She said confidently, wrapping the boy's arm in a makeshift sling and gently bandaging the small scrapes on his arms and torso. She made them both a drink and then headed down to the lab, Zak following close behind her. Doc came in about a minute or so later and began to set up some of the machines in the room.

"Now Zak, your mother and I are going to need you to tell us everything that happened", He said, a hint of severity in his voice. "How did your uncle start changing?"

"Well…", Zak started, scratching his head "It started yesterday whilst Fisk and I were playing Alien Airstrike 3 with Doyle."

"Did he attack you?", Doc asked defensively.

"Not at all dad, Fisk pulled one of Doyle's gloves off and his hand was a little scaly but when I asked him this morning he said he'd pulled them all out."

"The bandages, of course, he was hiding the marks! What about earlier, what caused him to crash the jet?", Drew asked, a little agitated by the fact that he hadn't sought help from anyone and had just left his condition to worsen.

"About halfway there, he started to freak out, like he was in a trance, he only just managed to land it but then he started to change more until he became what he is now. I tried to help him but he just told me to run, to stay away from him. After that he blacked out and started to chase me.", Zak sighed, Fiskerton making fighting actions behind him. "He's definitely gotten worse though, he never had that many scales when he first attacked me."

"Well I have one theory on why he's acting like that", Doc said, taking something out of his pocket and placing on a dish and putting it inside one of the machines.

"Is that one of Doyle's scales?"

"Yep. I figured that if he's changing into a cryptid, there's a likely chance he'll act like one too. So if we can find out what species or type it is through DNA, we have a better chance of knowing how to handle him."

The machine beeped and Doc walked over to the computer. He frowned.

"What is it honey?", Drew asked, looking over his shoulder at the screen.

"I can't find a match. Not even in the whole cryptipedia."

"Did you get any abnormalities in the DNA?"

"The strands that originate from the scales are multiplying in vast quantities, there is already hundreds of the foreign cells attacking and replacing the human ones.", Doc said "But I could try to match the DNA to find the group it's from."

"Try it."

Doc typed something in on the keyboard and a long list of categories came up, one highlighted in red. "It's of Reptilian origin, serpent to be exact. Similar to that of cryptids like the Lizard Man. But that still leaves too many options."

"Then let's narrow it down a little", Drew said. She brought up a picture of the Kur stone and some pictures of Doyle from the airship CCTV and zoomed in on his arms, "See that? Some of those markings are from the Kur stone but all of them look Sumerian. It isn't a neural parasite that's controlling him, maybe not even instincts, I think it's dark mysticism."

"Dark mysticism? Like the snake lady's relic?", Zak asked, both of his parents turning to him in surprise.

"Wait. Doc, did Doyle ever come in contact with the relic for long periods of time?"

"No, I don't think so. The only one who had physical contact with it was Fiskerton and I was just as close to it as Doyle was. But Fisk and I never started growing scales and fangs", Doc answered, putting his fingers to the corner of his mouth in thought. "We'll have to work this out back home as we'll need to use the winch to get the jet into the airship before it gets dark", Doc said.

"Zak you go with your father, I'm gonna go watch your uncle and make sure he doesn't break out", Drew responded, giving Zak the motherly stare to make sure he left with his father…

* * *

 **I have the rest of the story kind of planned out, it should have around 12-15 chapters but I want to do another "what if "endings fanfic for TSS, I already have a few events I could write alternative endings for e.g: Van Rook's death, the ghost in the machine, how Doc got his scar etc. but I want to see what you readers think I should write a "what if" ending to. So if you want to put any suggestions forward in the reviews, I will try to make a story out of it (a oneshot or multi chapter fic depending on the idea) and you shall get a virtual cookie :)**

 **~Magenta**


	9. Cause

**Long time no update. Exam week is now done and I can finish the story!**

* * *

The holding area wasn't any different than the last time Drew visited it. Although Doc had the glass fixed since the Duah broke it, it didn't feel any different though, plain walls, dark corners, not as dark and dreary as the cells back at HQ but it was still unappealing to an extent. It was the least likely place Drew would expect to find her brother, speaking of which, if he was in there, he was awfully quiet. She crept up to the bulletproof glass pane and peered inside. There was a black figure huddled in one of the corners. She wanted to think it was Doyle but was still slightly afraid of his suddenly hostile attitude. Against her better judgement she decided to call out to him anyway, just to see if he was still knocked out or not.

"Doyle, are you awake?"

A pair of orange eyes appeared, stalking the woman from the back of the cell. Doyle blinked, his amber slits tracing his sister's movements. However, Drew was relieved to see that they were nowhere near as precise and wary as before, instead his eyes were droopy and tired, perhaps the drugs were to blame. He groaned loudly in what seemed to be pain and Drew watched in amazement as he stretched and then got up as if nothing happened.

"Yeah Sis?" He said, his voice rough and groggy. Drew could see that he was still feeling the effects of the anaesthetic as he wobbled and tripped over himself constantly.

"How are you feeling?" She asked, concern clear in her voice.

"I feel like I got shot with a tranquiliser dart", He replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"What else do you remember?", she asked, quite amused that he remembered being shot with the dart.

"Nothing at all except for your killjoy husband punching me in the face."

Drew chuckled for a moment before returning to a sympathetic tone because in all seriousness, what was happening to her brother? She put her hand up against the pane and let out a sigh, fogging up the glass. Doyle walked closer to the window, out of the shadows and into the light where Drew could see the extent of his mutations. She gasped and placed one of her hands to her lips. She put her back against the window and slid down, resting her elbows on her knees. She looked up and noticed him gazing down on her from the other side of the jail.

"Do you have any idea what could have caused this?" She asked.

"Not a clue" Doyle said fairly quickly.

"You're not helping" She scolded, "most 'normal' people don't just change into crazed cryptid

mutants overnight."

"Your family is anything but normal Drew."

She scowled. "Well do you perhaps know why you went psycho and tried to attack my son."

"Oh! Zak! Drew is he alright, did I hurt him?!"

"Only a few minor bruises and scratches, he'll be alright, now answer the question."

"I was being controlled Drew" He said flatly.

"By whom?", she asked

"The snake lady sis, she was all up in my brain! I tried to fight her off but—."

"What! Rani Nagi is making you do this!" Drew cried, "How in the world did she manage that?!"

"She kept talking to me like I was below her, she was calling me her 'servant'", he admitted, rolling his eyes and making hand actions.

Drew looked shocked. "I bet that's how she was able to control you", she whispered, yet it was loud enough for Doyle to hear.

"How?"

"Doc sampled some of those scales that are growing on you" Drew explained, "He confirmed that they were of serpent origin. When Zak and I went to sort out the Atlas Pin, Rani Nagi was able to control Kumari Kandam's giant sea serpent like it was nothing, you have somehow gotten serpent DNA into your body and you are now changing into a serpent based cryptid. I figure that if she can control a serpent as big as the one Zak and I faced, it will be a piece of cake for her to control you."

Doyle scratched his head and chuckled nervously.

"As it's clear enough that there is some connection between Kur and the Nagas, those markings are definitely of Sumerian origin, so I'd say that whatever she's using you for, it has something to do with Kur. I bet she's using you to get to Zak. Yet that doesn't explain why and how she turned you into a cryptid to accomplish it" Drew said, a smidge of fear in her voice.

"Ugh why me of all people", Doyle groaned

Drew got up and smiled at him, "sorry Doyle, we can't really let you out with her control possibly still over you." Doyle folded his arms and sighed, "Do you mind if I get some more scale samples from you? It might help me understand the situation a little better."

"Uh if that means pulling them out of my arm that's a big fat no."

"You're impossible." Drew complained, shaking her head at her brother, "stop being a big baby and just give me your arm."

Doyle complied with a mutter and a scowl. Drew chuckled and picked out a scale to remove. Doyle raised an eyebrow at his sister.

"Just get it over with." He growled. So she did.

"OUCH! Sis I said fast not hard!" Doyle snapped, rubbing his hand and then smacking her wrist. Drew then proceeded to pull her brother up by the hair for revenge.

"HEY! Do you mind?!" He laughed, more annoyed than angry.

Drew let her brother go with a smirk. "Alright, I'm going to help Doc and Zak, you stay put, I'll come and see you later okay?" Drew said, walking towards the door, shutting it and then knocking on the glass.

"Yeah, like I'm going to break through three layers of hurricane glass sis", He said sarcastically, knocking on the glass. She rolled her eyes and then left via the door she entered through.

…

Doc dusted his jumpsuit off and stepped back, he and Zak had just finished towing the mangled wreck that was the jet back into the airship storage space. Doc saw Drew walking towards them and smiled.

"Tell your brother that his repair bill is a little high this month", Doc said, looking towards the lump of crushed metal. Drew smirked. "You might also want to tell him that he's gonna have to spend the night in the sterilised box".

"What do you mean hon?" Drew asked.

"Doyle did some major damage to the system. We're gonna need a full solar recharge, we'll have to wait till morning for us to get airborne again."

"And if he wasn't already ticked off enough" Drew sighed, shrugging her shoulders.

"Hey, it's his fault, I don't see why he should get mad", Doc suggested, putting an arm round her.

Drew looked at him and frowned. "That's not what I'm afraid of." She turned towards Doc, then Zak and then walked a few paces away, "Doyle could turn on us at any moment, I talked to him and he thinks that the Naga are the ones controlling him."

"Nagas?" Doc asked in concern

"Doyle said something about him hearing Rani Naga in his head, he says she's telling him to target Zak."

Doc and Zak gasped and Doc began to think.

"I don't want to leave him in there alone, what if he breaks out somehow?", Drew asked in worry.

"I don't think he will Drew, that unit managed to hold a rabid Nandi bear."

"You fought him Doc, you saw how difficult he was to control."

"Yes, but you said that you were in there with him and that he didn't try to attack you."

"Only because the drugs had left him drained enough to have his mind back."

"Mom's right dad, you know how insane the Naga's are, who knows what they'll make him do", Zak said, taking his mother's side in the debate.

"Exactly and because Doyle is changing into some kind of serpent cryptid, they can control him at will, he can change between annoying little brother and dangerous animal in an instant", Drew stated.

Doc sighed and folded his arms, "Alright, you win, what do you suppose we do?"

"I have an idea…"

…

Drew stepped back and scratched her head.

"When you told me you had an idea of how you were gonna stop me from breaking out, this isn't what I had in mind", Doyle sighed. His wrists were clasped in metal cuffs, leading onto thick heavy chains that held him to the wall. "Seriously, how am I supposed to sleep in these things", he asked, lifting the chains with a rustle.

"It's for your own good Doyle", Zak comforted, giving him a thumbs up.

"Could I at least have something to sleep on", Doyle asked, rolling his eyes.

"It's only for the night, I'm sure you'll be fine", Drew assured.

"So much for great hospitality."

"Look, as soon as we get home we can start working on a cure for this okay?" Drew soothed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Just rest easy, we'll be able to figure this thing out tomorrow" she sighed. The trio left the holding cell and Doyle motioned goodbye to them as they shut the door on him. He sighed and slouched down against the wall, folding his hands behind his back. At least Drew had left a light on for him. At that moment Doyle caught himself feeling guilty and ashamed of what he had become. He thought about telling them the truth, maybe then it would be easier to fix. He grimaced, knowing that either way, Drew would beat him to a pulp for keeping the thing. At least now he wasn't anywhere near that thing, so in theory there was no way he could change anymore. Or was there? Doyle didn't know what to do, he had never experienced a plan backfire quite like this one. He ran his hand through his bizarre hairdo and stretched, this was going to be one hell of a night…

…..

"You said you had some more scale samples?"

"Yep, I thought we might need a few more to be able to fully trace the DNA."

"It could take some time, since we haven't gotten any answers from the machines, we'll have to study each individual strand for abnormalities and compare it to likely candidates."

Doc and Drew had just put their son to bed and were in the lab to run some more tests in order to determine the cause of Doyle's transformation. Doc took out the full Cryptipedia and began to search for cryptids with similar features to Doyle, skimming through looking for reptilian cryptids with black scales, huge claws and orange eyes. After a while he began to analyse the scales under a microscope, looking for any humanoid cells still existing in the samples. On the other hand, Drew was analysing the less practical side of the investigation by looking up all of the meanings of the markings on Doyle in her Kur and Sumerian books.

"Doc!" Drew called, "I found some of the translations."

"What did you get?", He asked.

"This symbol here, the one on his left palm, it is very similar to the symbol for geme."

"Which means?"

"It roughly translates as 'female slave or servant' but in this case, it isn't exact, so it may have no specific gender."

"Why would Doyle be branded as a servant?", He asked.

"It makes perfect sense. Doyle mentioned to me that the Naga Queen had called him as a servant on multiple occasions, if she can control him to do whatever she pleases, then she must see him lower than her, hence him being called like that", Drew said with complete confidence whilst Doc, for once in his life looked completely puzzled.

"For one time only Drew, I think your ancient magic is giving a better explanation than my hard proven science", Doc admitted. Drew turned to him and give him the 'I told you so' smirk. "But that doesn't mean that it answers everything we don't understand", Doc continued, raising one hand in defence.

"Well you better brace yourself honey, there's more evidence then just that", Drew said, turning back to the pictures and books. She held up a picture of Doyle's upper arm, revealing a tattoo like imprint of two weaved snakes. "I'm assuming that the placing of these two marks is significant. The snake, in this case the Naga, is superior, whilst the slave is lower down, beneath the Naga."

"I hate to admit it, but I'm convinced", Doc added, placing a firm hand on his wife's shoulder. Drew chuckled.

"It isn't all good news", Drew sighed, "this might mean that we have to risk confronting the Nagas to get some answers."

"We can't afford to do that Drew", Doc replied solemnly, "we have already given Argost a huge head start, we can't let him find Kur!"

"Think about it Doc, they know more about Kur than any of us and if Doyle continues to change…"

Doc wrapped his arms around his wife. "Don't worry, we'll find a way around this somehow, we have a lot more supplies back at the house to use for tests, worst case scenario: we might have to put your brother on the examination table."

Drew shook her head. "I don't think he'll be too thrilled about that", Drew snickered.

"I think the best thing we can do for now is rest, it's late, we could both use some sleep after today's events."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

…..

Drew and Doc weren't the only ones who could use some sleep at that time. Doyle soon found his eyelids beginning to droop with fatigue. He was exhausted. After all he was only human, all of his cryptid capabilities could only have so much use with a weaker still mostly human body tied to it. But as soon as his eyelids closed…

"My servant."

…..

"Foolish human male."

…..

"Answer me you insolent fleshling!" Doyle tried his hardest to ignore her constant hissing, but eventually, just as he always did, he found himself almost entranced.

"Why didn't you kill the boy?!"

"Because I'm not doing anything you say!"

"Oh is that so? Then why did you attack your family and draw blood?"

"I I-m not letting y-you control me again"

"Not letting me? Oh no, I'm making you do things."

"Then I want answers!"

"Oh human, what is there to answer to? You already know why you are serving me."

"Tell me how to change back!"

"Hah! Tell you?! Why would I!"

"My family will find you, they'll stop you, they'll destroy Kur! It's already over!"

"Your family will soon be destroyed! Their blood will soon be on you! Any part of you that objects is just those petty human emotions of compassion and love screaming at you to stop!"

"NO! You're wrong! I-I would never h-hurt them!"

"Of course you will, you almost strangled that pathetic boy. It was very satisfactory to see you wrap your claws around the throat of that disgustingly innocent human child, so close to sinking your fangs into his flesh. You were seconds from brutally murdering your own bloodline and you still call yourself completely human."

Doyle could imagine the taste blood in his mouth. He felt sick to his stomach, creating images in his mind that made him gag with revulsion. He couldn't take the prospect any longer and his eyes snapped open and he began to retch. He sat up, rustling the chains as he did and clutched his stomach, feeling sickened by her words.

"Like hell that's ever gonna happen", Doyle said through gritted teeth. He sat up and started into the blackness.

"I mustn't fall asleep" He concluded desperately.

"I mustn't fall asleep."

"I…mustn't fall…. asleep."

"I-I…mustn't…. fall…asleep."

"I…. mustn't…. f-fall."

…


	10. Clarity

**I want to think Annabeth and Percy rules for reviewing all of my chapters, it's really handy to use as a pointer. You'll be glad to know that I've fixed the line break issues they are now actual lines instead of ...'s . Also, I got my English exam results back yesterday and all of you who were telling me about the commas... you were right. I was putting them in the wrong place. So now that's mostly fixed ( I say mostly because I can't trust myself entirely). Anyway , read and review.**

* * *

I was still mostly asleep when Dad powered up the airship the next morning. It was a good thing too, otherwise I would have had my breakfast eaten by Komodo, (a threat that mom always used to get me out of bed). I could hear the soft humming of the engines from behind, along with the rumbling of the turbulence from below. I slipped out of bed and looked out of the window to see the clouds lazily rolling across the blue sky. I rubbed my eyes and yawned, throwing the blanket over Komodo (who was asleep at the foot of the bed) to wake the lazy lizard up. I shuffled through the ship trying to find my parents. I wandered down to the bridge to see dad piloting the controls, Fisk lazing around nearby on one of the chairs.

"Hey dad!" I called, trotting over to his seat and looking down on him. He smiled. "Do you know where mom is?"

"I think she's down in the lab," he replied shaking his head "she's still trying to work out what's wrong with your uncle."

"Thanks dad," I said, waving to him as I left to find Mom. Since I had left, komodo had left my room and was prowling the halls in search of any unfortunate insects that had made their way onto the ship. I saw that the doors to the lab were closed, but I walked in anyway and saw her gazing at one of her Sumerian books. I walked up to her and she said good morning to me, smiling as she did so. She then went back to her book, turning the page with a sigh. I put my hand on her shoulder and she jumped slightly. "Are you alright mom," I asked softly. She looked exhausted.

"I'm fine honey, just tired," she replied. "I just don't get it, I can't seem to find any leads to what could have caused this and I'm just as stumped with finding a way to change him back."

"You probably need a break," I advised.

"Your right honey, I suppose I should go and check on your uncle, I bet he thinks that I've left him to starve."

I was a little shocked. "You haven't gone to see him yet."

"Your father and I have been a little busy, I haven't had time to see him yet," she apologised, standing up. "Though I suppose we can go do that now, as we're expected to get back in the next hour, want to come with me kiddo?"

"Sure mom," I said, following her out of the room and back upstairs to the containment area. Fisk and komodo had joined us since and were following us down the hall curiously. I looked up at mom who looked on edge and worried. "Hey mom," she turned to me. "What did you and dad find out about Doyle's condition?"

"Your father and I looked at some of the scales, but we weren't able to find out the cause," we reached the doors to the containment area. "I looked in the Kur books and I found the meanings of some of the markings on Doyle and I'm sure that the Nagas are behind this. The only question now is…"

"How?"

"Exactly."

Mom was about to open the door when Fisk started to whimper, his eyes going wide. I tried to console him but he grabbed me and held me back.

"Hey! Fisk! Put me down! Relax, it's only uncle Doyle in there."

"That's what he's afraid of," mom said, patting him on the arm. "Your uncle is a possible link to Kur and with Fiskerton's duty as a Kur guardian, they might have a few problems with each other." She opened the door fully and we stepped inside but nothing could have prepared us for what we found. There were two huge areas of cracked glass on the pane, two circular impact marks that looked like someone had repetitively smashed their fists against it. Mom looked shocked. She ran forward and looked into the cell. "He's that strong!" I ran forward and looked in and I couldn't believe my eyes either. Doyle was lying on the floor, I assumed he was asleep or unconscious and he looked pretty serene compare to the devastation around him. He was still wearing the cuffs, but the chains had been completely ripped from the wall and lay in rings around him. I also noticed a few scratch marks on the walls and door, indicating that he had tried his absolute hardest to get out. I was surprised that we hadn't heard him at all last night. Mom took out her fire sword and unlocked the door.

"Wait here Zak, I'm gonna see if he's okay," she warned. She crept inside and knelt down beside Doyle, still holding her sword. I watched in both awe and surprise as Doyle sat up and began rubbing his head in pain. I ignored the look mom was giving me and peeked round the door.

"Hey uncle Doyle, are you alright?" I asked him. He smiled, making me shiver as he flashed the ends of his new fangs.

"I could be better Zakman. How's your arm?" His voice sounded a little deeper than I was used to, but he seemed collected at the moment.

"Doyle? Do you remember what you did last night?" Mom asked him. He looked at her funny.

"No. Why? What did…oh," he gawped as he saw the damaged window and the broken chains. He brought his hands up to his face and examined them. All three of us noticed that they weren't at all damaged. "Drew, what exactly is going on?" he asked, seeming very confused. Mom looked confused too.

"I don't know Doyle," mom said simply. "But we need to find a cure for this thing before you get any worse. We have no idea of knowing how much stronger or more dangerous you could get." She seemed very serious and so did Doyle. It was the most serious I had ever seen him since he first met mom. She turned to me. "Zak I'm gonna need you to go and tell your father about what's happened."

"Why me?" I moaned because I didn't want to miss out on any of the action.

"Because I'm gonna stay here and make sure Doyle doesn't change again," she answered.

"Fine," I growled, heading out of the room back towards the bridge. I could feel the airship lowering under my feet and I knew that dad was landing it. By the time I walked in, we had set down in the hangar. He unbuckled and stood up from his seat.

"Hey dad, mom wants to talk to you about Doyle," that was the only way I could explain it. He raised an eyebrow.

"What has he done now?"

"He tried to break out Dad, he smashed the glass and pulled the chains out of the wall." My dad looked like someone had just proved to him that ghosts are real.

"What?!" He almost shouted, "how on earth did he do that?" Then he went running off down the hall. I followed close behind him. He burst through the doors and surveyed the scene in front of him, falling into silence. Mom was still in the cell with Doyle, who was now stood up. He gave dad a look of apology.

"That glass can stop bullets. How did you manage to break it with your bare hands?" He asked, approaching Doyle slowly.

"I wish I knew."

"You don't remember?"

"Nope."

"Do you think you were being controlled?"

"Yep."

My dad looked alarmed. I could tell he was wracking his brain to find an explanation. "All we can do right now is transfer you to a stronger unit and…"

"Doc," Mum cut him off. "We can't just brush this off, we need to find out what's causing this before Doyle's sudden inhuman strength becomes very dangerous."

"I know, I know," he admitted.

I watched as Doyle sighed and hung his head. He looked really guilty, but I had no idea why. Mom and Dad didn't seem to notice as they were too busy debating but he definitely looked more ashamed than afraid.

"Doyle? Is everything alright?" I asked. He looked over at me and shook his head. I felt sorry for him. It's not every day that you start turning into a cryptid for no reason what so ever. My parents eventually took charge and we all left the airship to see if the house would hold any better answers.

* * *

After we got indoors, my parents took Doyle straight to the lab to find some clarity. I wasn't allowed in as apparently it was too dangerous, so I watched from the door with Fisk instead. They had Doyle sat down on an examination table, hooked up to several machines (I didn't know what any of them were apart from the heart monitor). Dad was asking him questions like he was running an interview and Mom was recording the readings on the computer. I watched carefully as dad shone a torch in Doyle's eye and then frowned. They all looked just as stunned as I was. After a few minutes mom came over to me and fisk, smiled and then walked out of the room. As Doyle and Dad weren't doing anything interesting I decided to follow her.

"Hey mom, where are you going?"

"Oh! I'm just going to go get some of my Kur books," she answered "do you want to come with me?"

"Why not?" I answered. Fisk also grunted his approval. We followed her down into the west wing of the house and went into the library. She went to the back where she kept all of her old books and began to search around. After a few minutes it became apparent that she couldn't find it. "Can't you find them mom?"

"That's odd, I have no idea where the could've gone," she exclaimed. I tried to think back to the previous and I remembered that I'd seen Doyle carrying some books yesterday. That was odd because Doyle didn't read. Either he had a change of heart after getting crushed by a book case back in the Alexandria library when we were with Abbey, or there was something else he was up to. So I told her.

"I saw Doyle taking some books up to his room yesterday."

"You did? That's funny, Doyle never appealed to me as the kind of person who liked books."

"Rezuruah," Fisk commented, taking a book from one of the shelves and flipping through it. Mom chuckled.

"I might have to check in his room then." We all trailed back upstairs and Mom went in. Fisk and I knew what a death trap Doyle's room could be (having tried to find his concussion grenade storage ourselves) so we stayed back by the door and waited. There was about 2 minutes of shuffling and silence before we heard mom opening what we assumed was one of the storage units in the room. It was swiftly followed by a clatter … and a sound that was a mix between a gasp and a cry. We both rushed in only to see the shocking scene before us. Mom had opened the wardrobe and a bundle of stuff had fallen out. One of these objects was a bag, when it had fallen out the buckle had come undone and I couldn't believe what had dropped out. It was the Nagas relic, fixed and glowing like a light. Mom looked like her eyes were going to pop out of her head and roll away. We stood staring for a few seconds before Mom's shock was replaced with boiling anger and she snatched up the bag (now with the relic in) and stormed out of the room. Fisk and I looked at each other. Neither of us had any clue about what just happened. I was mad. Doyle was to blame. He had denied knowing anything the whole time. I realised that was what mom had just guessed and I bolted off down the corridor hoping to catch up with her.

I caught sight of her just as she burst into the lab. By now she was red in the face as she stomped towards Doyle who, along with dad, looked extremely puzzled. She thrust the bag in his face with a yell.

"HOW COULD YOU!? She roared. Doyle, who was still sat on the table, tried to move away from her wrath but was stopped when she grabbed his collar and pulled him in.

"Don't play dumb Doyle! I already know what you've done!"

"I haven't done anything!" He cried defensively. I knew that was a lie. Mom did too and she wasn't impressed at all.

"Oh yes you have! Don't try and lie to me!" I had never seen her so angry. Not even at Van Rook. Dad seemed to pick up on this and he rounded on Doyle too.

"Is it so difficult for you to listen to someone for a change? I warned you! I warned you that thing was dangerous and you ignored me! Now look what you've done to yourself!" Doyle's eyes widened and he seemed to have a moment of panic whilst Dad did the same thing, only out of realisation this time. Mom took the bag and opened it, the relic fell out onto the floor and Doyle looked like someone who had just been told their dog had died. Dad looked like he was going to explode. Nobody said anything for about a minute or so. Doyle was the first to speak but his voice was quiet and squeaky, nobody heard him at first and that only made my parents angrier.

"I'm sorry" was all he could say in his shamed, submissive state.

"Sorry? Is that all you can say Doyle", Mom asked, glaring at him as if she could see straight through him. He didn't even try to defend himself, he just sat there, afraid to meet their gaze.

"I-I messed up okay? I didn't mean…" he was cut off by dad's raging temper.

"You messed up!? You put as all in danger! And what about Zak? You could've killed him! He was lucky to get away with only a broken arm," he yelled, right in Doyle's face.

"Look, I was trying to help I-I didn't know that this would happen!"

"I told you about the risks! Why are you so reckless and ignorant?!" Mom cried. Doyle bowed his head, looking dejected. "Let's just hope I can stop this thing that's gotten into you." That was the last thing that mom said. After that she took the relic and left, to where I didn't know and it became a very awkward situation. Dad looked like he wanted to beat Doyle to a pulp. Doyle looked like he knew about it and Fisk, well Fisk had run out of the room as soon as Doyle had looked his way. Doyle got up and began to walk away, it was fairly clear that he'd had enough of this standoff. Dad moved as quick as lightning to block him. Dad was slightly bigger than Doyle and he had the advantage. To my surprise, Doyle tried to sidestep him but dad matched his step, standing a few inches taller.

"Where do you think you're going Doyle?" He asked angrily.

"Away from you," he barely mumbled. Dad growled and pointed behind Doyle to the exit, "unless it's a cell you have in mind I'm not letting you out of my sight."

Doyle paused for a moment and then muttered something under his breath, "fine."

* * *

I decided to leave Doyle and dad to their standoff and find mom instead. I found her in the living room, sat down on the sofa in silence.

"Mom are you okay?" I asked. I felt really bad for her.

"I'm fine. Just angry is all," she replied through gritted teeth.

"None of us could have known he was doing that mom," I said trying to comfort her.

"I really thought he'd changed his ways," she sighed.

"So did I mom. I don't think he meant for this to happen though."

"Of course he didn't, but it's his own fault. He brought this upon himself Zak."

"Do you think you can change him back?"

"Maybe. It's just too early to say. There isn't any medical cure for it that's for sure. We might end up having to find the Nagas for ourselves to sort this out," She sighed. "Your father really wants to get back onto the Kur leads we have too." I sat down on the sofa next to her along with Fisk. She ruffled my hair and tickled Fiskerton who began to purr. About half an hour later dad came back in, he looked stressed out. He had a cup of what I assumed was coffee in his hand. He walked over and handed it to mom. She took a sip and gave him a momentary grin of thanks.

"I took care of your brother," he said, "he isn't going anywhere."

"I'm going to beat him senseless," mom stated, taking a deep breath.

"Now we're even farther behind," dad started.

"I know honey, I know. I'm going to go analyse the relic soon. I'm just trying to clear my head."

"Take all the time you need, Doyle isn't going anywhere. He's behind titanium bars this time, there's no way he's getting out." Dad moved to leave the room.

"Where are you going?" Mom and I asked in sync.

"To do some repairs on the airship after the chaos that happened yesterday," he replied.

"Good idea, I'll go with you," Mom decided, getting up and leaving the room with him. I shook my head and turned to Fisk who tilted his furry head in worry.

"Do you think Doyle will change anymore Fisk? I mean he's still getting scalier," I paused "and more aggressive."

"Duzzurarah!" he cried, baring his teeth and making swiping actions with his hands.

"Yeah, I think so too."


	11. Controlled Chaos

**Sorry about the wait for this one but it's a long chapter so I guess it's worth it.**

* * *

I couldn't believe I was doing this. Mom and dad were in the lab and I was contemplating paying Doyle a visit. Fisk was practically begging me not to and komodo… well I wasn't sure where komodo had snuck off to. Fisk was fussing over nothing I was sure.

"Come on Fisk I'll be fine! It's past noon, I'm sure Doyle could use some company," I assured. Fisk wasn't so convinced "It'll be just like I'm checking on him. Yeah, that's it. I'll be doing them a favour, Doyle could have tried to break out or something, who knows?" I took Fisk by the hand and led him away with me down the corridor towards the house prison ward. There weren't many lights in this part of the house, so when I turned them on we still couldn't see all that much. I was quite surprised that they'd shut him alone down here in the dark. I went down to the end of the corridor and walked out onto the platform of jail cells. Fisk refused to follow me but I went on ahead. All of the cell doors were wide open, except one at the end of the row. I swallowed nervously and tip toed over to it. I knocked on the bars and something stirred from one of the corners. It was so dark in there I could barely see anything but I already knew he was in there. I saw his eyes first and then a silhouette of a figure. He didn't move from his spot in the corner and when he spoke, he sounded in quite a state.

"Drew?" He asked. He must've been pretty messed up if he couldn't tell the difference between me and mom.

"No Doyle. It's me, Zak," I corrected him.

"Zak … What are you doing here?"

"I want to talk to you about the relic," I said as calmly as possible but I could feel my hands shaking.

"What do ya want to know?"

"I want to know how you got the relic back."

"I had a feeling you were gonna ask that," he dreaded "well, I went back and found it after Fisk put it in the waste chute. I then got some of your mom's Kur books and tried to fix the damned thing. Next thing I knew I was growing scales in places I didn't even know I had."

"Nasty," I cringed "Do you think it'll get any worse?"

He didn't answer me for about a minute and I had thought that he'd changed again. "Can you do me a favour Miniman?" he asked.

"Sure Doyle, what is it?"

"I need you to get me an aspirin or something, I'm not feeling too good," he sounded pretty worried.

"What do you mean?" I asked. He walked a little bit closer to me and then stopped. After that he began to undo the top part of his shirt revealing part of a larger design on his chest along with a wreath of new scales around his collar bones. It looked like someone had gotten a wall paintbrush and had swiped it across him because of the way it was seeping into his skin. It made my skin crawl. "Does it hurt?" I asked. He nodded and bit his lip. "I don't think pain medication is gonna help with that Doyle," I said. He smiled sadly.

"I know but what else can I do to stop it?" He asked.

"Do you want me to get mom for you?"

"I don't think so Miniman, I think she has a death wish on me now," He replied.

"She has every right to be angry with you okay? Just apologise to her and tell her how you feel, that always worked for me when I was grounded," I told him. He looked doubtful.

"I'm turning into a monster, it's not like I broke the TV or something Zak," He said, rolling his eyes.

"I know Doyle, but-," He cut me off.

"No, you shouldn't even be down here. I have a feeling that something bad is going to happen," He responded.

"What do you want me to do?" I asked him.

"Go and warn your parents, tell them to upgrade the security."

"Why?"

"Because the serpent lady has started trying to get at me again, I'm not sure how long I can ignore her for," I was shocked.

"What is she telling you?"

"It's not you this time, you're not the target." Who did he mean then? Who else could she have told him to go after?

He took a deep breath. "It's Fisk." I was stunned.

"It must be the kur guardian thing, she knows Fiskerton can help us find Kur," I realised.

"I'm sorry Zak," he sighed, running a clawed hand through his now onyx black hair. "I need you to go now okay? I need to concentrate on fighting this thing."

I smiled at him and gave him a wave. "Sure thing Uncle Doyle, I'll make sure to warn mom and also good luck!" He smiled back but didn't make any other movements. I jogged back down the corridor and towards the lab where I assumed my parents were working. When I entered I found that they weren't in there but I did spot something else in the corner of my eye. It was the relic. They had put it in a padlocked glass cabinet yet it was still glowing brightly. I walked over and peered in. It felt really unnatural and eerie. I then began to hear shouting from the other side of the room and I stepped away from the cabinet. Mom and dad came into the room.

"Zak! Where are y- … oh there you are kiddo!" Mom said, coming up to me and giving me a hug.

"Hey mom I have something to tell you!" I said, looking up at her.

"What is it honey?"

"Doyle told me to tell you that-," Dad cut me off.

"Doyle?! Zak have you been talking to your uncle?" Dad asked, folding his arms. I grinned innocently.

"I was just checking on him," I said defensively, "he told me to tell you that he wanted the security to be upgraded in his cell," they both gave me confused looks. "He said that he can hear Rani Nagi talking to him again, she's telling him to go after Fisk this time," they both looked shocked now "he's changing again, he's got more of those marks on him now." Mom and Dad looked at each other.

Dad spoke first. "We'll have to find some stronger chains."

"No use," Mom cut in, "he'll just pull them out of the wall like last time."

"We could always use the shock collars," dad suggested. Both mom and I glared at him, "what?" He asked.

"Come on Doc, maybe something a little more humane?" Mom scolded. Dad frowned.

"I suggest we use the limb restraints instead."

"Drew, he'll just break out of them as soon as we leave him in them."

"Oh… do you have any other suggestions Mr science guy?" I hated it when they argued like this so I moved in between them and made myself known.

"Well why don't we just let him wander free and see how that works out!" I cried. They both looked at me. I had a point.

* * *

Normal POV:

Soon enough they had Doyle once again clad in chains and cuffs at the back of a cell. Handcuffs, foot weights, reinforced chains, you name it they had it.

"Is all this really necessary?" Doyle asked sarcastically. Drew rolled her eyes.

"Yes Doyle, it is," she commented, "none of us want to deal with a psycho cryptid hybrid in the middle of the night." Doyle suppressed a chuckle.

"I guess this is goodnight then sis," he said.

"Well I wouldn't use the word good to describe the situation but yeah, see you tomorrow," she still sounded pretty angry at him. She and Doyle shared a death glare before the Saturdays moved off down the corridor leaving Doyle alone in the dark…

* * *

Everyone settled down for dormancy that night with a clear mind that nothing else would go wrong. The only one who didn't succeed with that was Doyle. Up until around the midnight hours he kept a level of control on his mind and body but all being said and done, Doyle began to doubt that now. He was slightly frightened by the sickening creaks and cracks that were coming from his bones yet he felt only moderate pain from this. If it was describable, he decided he would compare it to harsh growing pains. The quote on quote 'burning' on his skin was worse, the marks felt like someone had put a red hot branding rod on him and pressed down. He couldn't move to as much as touch them because of how tightly he was bound. It only got worse from there. Every nerve in his body was taut and his muscles were twitching and clenching. He didn't even realise he was shaking until he noticed the clanking sounds of the chains that bound his hands in front of him. He let out a quiet whimper as the darkness began to assault his mind and she was right on time to arrive with it.

"My servant, this is the last time I will speak to you like this, this is the last chance I'm giving you to think with your human mind." Doyle's heart sank at her words.

"Why, what are you going to do to me?" He quivered.

"You may have noticed that you have begun to become more beastly, a lot more animal than man if you will. You are only a few changes away from total cryptid influence and I have decided that even though I hate to show mercy, the most humane thing to do is to put you out of your misery and drown your humanity."

Doyle's heart missed a beat and he tried to sound brave. "That doesn't matter! There's no way I'm getting out of here! My family won't die at your hands."

"I wouldn't be so sure. I can fill you with fierce desires all I want and I can give you the physical attributes to achieve it and once I have finished my work tonight, you will have the strength of five men."

"NO! I won't let you do this! I won't let you use me to get to them!"

"They are already dead, there is no hope for them." Her words sent him into a powerful rage in which he was nearly able to rip off his cuffs.

"You're wrong," he snarled, his eyes blazing with hatred. She laughed.

"You are confused as to who's side you are on Saturday, are you forgetting that you belong to me now?"

"I don't 'belong' to anyone."

"You aren't one of those humans anymore, you belong with us now, you are about to become part of a bigger empire as soon as I strip you of your humanity and useless emotions."

Doyle felt a sharp pain in his chest and collapsed. He felt a numbing sensation spread through his arms and legs. "You will be incapable of showing weakness, showing any signs of pain even if you are about to cease existing."

He nearly screamed as he just about tore at his own wrists to remove the chains. "You won't feel any human emotions, no love, no compassion, no empathy, only unbridled aggression and brutal loyalty."

His eyes widened in horror, "unfortunately you won't remember anything about your human life beforehand. You won't even have the illusion that the Saturdays are your family. You'll forget everything you ever were. Your family. Your identity. Even your own name…"

* * *

Zak's POV:

Fisk refused to sleep as soon as the clock hands had hit midnight. I had no idea why. He was just sat by my door, ears twitching as if he was listening out for something. Komodo was the same. He was lying across me protectively, hissing and growling at the quietist night sound.

"It's okay guys, really!" I told them, "nothing is going to happen." They didn't seem so sure. "Mom and dad made sure Doyle wouldn't get out this time," I comforted. I turned off the lamp and was about to snuggle into the duvet when…

CRASH!

Did I really hear that? I sat bolt upright in bed and turned on the light. Fisk and komodo were freaking out, shrieking and yowling. I grabbed the claw from my bedside and ventured over to the door. I grasped the latch and opened the door a crack. Nothing. I stepped out into the hall weapon first. Still nothing. The whole corridor was empty and untouched. I edged my way down a few doors and opened up the door to my parent's room. To my surprise they were both sat up in bed.

"You heard it too?" Dad asked. I nodded and they both got out of bed, mom putting on a dressing gown and unsheathing her fire sword.

"Do you think it's uncle Doyle?" I asked them.

"I hope not sweetie," Mom said, "but your father and I are going to check on him just in case."

"Can I come?" I asked. Mom shook her head.

"You might need to actually son. If Doyle really has broken out, we'll need to make sure he doesn't get to you," dad suggested. Mom looked annoyed but she had to agree.

"Let's go," she said, tossing the battle glove to dad. We moved out into the hall and Komodo and Fisk poked their heads out round my door.

"Rah?" Fisk asked, pointing to us.

"We're going to check on Doyle fisk, you stay up here, you'll be safe in my room," I told him. He saluted me and closed the door. I looked ahead to where mom and dad were already climbing the stairs and ran over to them. When we reached the room we were shocked to see that the door was mostly off its hinges but the inside devastation was worse. The cell door was dented inwards to a point that it had just crumpled and fell off. Mom's mouth hung open in shock and then it closed in fear as she brought her sword down.

"He could be anywhere, don't let your guard down," she said as we moved back into a circle.

"I don't get it. I thought he would be hunting us," dad said from behind. There was a scream from upstairs and we all span round. I didn't recognise the sound until a second cry rang out. I then realised what I had done. It wasn't me Doyle was after anymore, it was Fisk. I had just doomed my brother and I hadn't realised before it was too late.

"I'm coming Fisk!" I cried, running back to where I had left him. My parents seemed to catch on quickly and they followed me. I ran upstairs to see the two wrestling on the ground in pitch black darkness. I pointed the claw at Doyle and shouted at him "Get away from him!" Doyle stopped trying to strangle Fisk and locked eyes with me. I wasn't gonna lie, he looked hideous. I was horrified to see that in the short time since I had last seen him he had changed so much. He had a few more patches of scales and any bare skin was now a grey hue and I could have sworn he was at least a few inches taller than he was before. However, the most shocking feature was a long black lizard like tail that extended from his back, it swished and curled in time with his movement in an almost disturbing way. Mom placed a hand to her mouth and whispered his name in pity and awe. He didn't even flinch and after a few seconds went back to trying to claw Fisk who cried and bolted towards us. I could barely describe the calamity that followed. Doyle collided with dad (who was now shorter than him) and had him quickly pinned and would have smacked him upside the head had komodo not latched onto his tail and distracted him. Dad and Fisk held him against the floor as he roared in outrage.

"Hold him still! I want to try to talk to him!" Mom cried as she bent down in front of Doyle. She was about to reason with him when he smacked dad off him with his tail and grabbed mom by the wrist and pulled her down. She kicked him in the chest but he didn't seem to loosen his grip. She let out a sharp cry and instead swept him off his feet with a leg sweep. Dad grabbed him as he fell and punched him hard. He shook himself off and within seconds jumped up and latched onto Fisk's back. Fisk cried out a tried to slap away the claws that were jabbing at his back. I watched as Fisk body slammed him into the wall. It had no effect. I was so worried that someone was going to be injured at this point. That's when I noticed mom standing to my left with a reflex disruptor. As soon as she got a clear shot she fired directly at him. It knocked him down alright but after about 5 seconds he was back on his feet, circling Fisk like a vulture. Her jaw dropped. We were all shocked that he was now strong enough to be impervious to such weapons. I got in between he and Fisk and shot at him with the claw. He batted the hand of Tsul Kalu away and snarled at me, his fangs bared.

"Doyle! Can you hear me! It's Zak!" I shouted to him desperately. His expression didn't soften one bit. Mom then followed my example and began to talk at him. He was slightly confused, looking in all directions. "You can't do this Doyle! You can't listen to her! I know you wouldn't really hurt any of us!" There was a moment when I thought I saw something register in his eyes and I thought that he'd heard me but just as quickly his eyes glazed over with hatred and he went savage once again. I was lifted into the air with almost no effort by the neck and would have been thrown head first into a wall if mom and dad hadn't latched onto Doyle's arms in an effort to stop him. He dropped me and I fell to the ground, watching him bat away both mom and dad. Dad was able to dodge his swings but Doyle managed to catch the side of mom's face and send her stumbling back. I ran over to her whilst dad was blocking Doyle and helped her up. He hadn't drawn any blood but she looked very upset at the fact he had hit her.

I was angry with him now. "Okay Doyle, let's see if I can change your mind," I said, opening up the claw and sending a burst of energy hurling towards him. I connected with him with ease but struggled to stop him from kicking me out of his head. I couldn't find any of Doyle's thoughts in there but I shouldn't have been surprised to find the voice of Rani Nagi.

"Keep fighting them my soldier. Come on! Overpower those vermin!" So it was true. She was suing mind control on his. A burst of her dark matter sent me out of his mind and I drew back before Doyle could recover and strike me. I scuttled over to mom who was picking up her sword.

"Mom are you alright," I asked.

"I'm okay but I'm starting to see a major problem here," She stated, leaning on her sword slightly. "There's no way we can get him to stop until we break his connection to the Nagas control."

"That's it mom!" I cried. She had given me an idea.

"What is? Zak! Where are you going?!" She shouted as I turned and ran in the opposite direction.

"I know how to stop him mom!" I yelled back, not turning to look at her, "you and dad need to keep Doyle busy up here if it's gonna work!"

"Okay honey! We will!"

Now I just needed to dash down to the lab where I would find it. I reached the door and tried the handle. Locked. I busted the lock open with the claw. Oh well. They'd thank me for it later. I pushed the door open and ran inside. My eyes scanned the room for It and I immediately spotted the cabinet in which it was kept. I raced over and opened it up. At first I had to shield my eyes from the brightness of its glow but my eyes soon adjusted and I saw it clearly. The relic. It caused this mess so it could surely cure it right?" I guess I had to find out. I reached for it and then hesitated. What if it did the same thing to me that it did to Doyle? I thought about it and realised that it there wasn't any other way around that and I grabbed it. It looked like Doyle had done a good job of repairing it as it wasn't all that damaged. I turned on my heels and made a beeline for the door with the thing in my hands. I charged upstairs. The glow was getting brighter the closer I got. I sprinted inside and mom and dad straight away saw what I had in my hand. I got to Doyle before they could stop me and pointed the relic straight at him. The effects were instantaneous. Doyle's eyes lit up and he backed away.

"You don't like that do you Doyle?" I said sternly as he went down on his knees, gripping his head and yowling.

"Zak no!" Mom and dad both screamed. Fisk ran up to me and slapped it out of my hands. It rolled onto the floor a few feet away and a chunk fell off it. It seemed to have a slight pause on Doyle who's eyes widened and he seemed to stand there bewildered until he mentally shook himself.

"NO! Get them you fool, don't just stare there! Keep going!" I could hear her again now. Her voice seemed to be emanating from Doyle (or rather from around him as his mouth didn't open for speech). "Don't let the weakened connection cease your loyalty!" Oh it was definitely her. She was making him attack us. It was nothing to do with instincts. I knew what I needed to do to help him out. I briskly walked over to where the relic was.

I aimed…

"No Zak don't do it!" Mom cried.

I raised the claw above my head…

"We don't know what that'll do to him! Let alone you!" Dad yelled.

I brought it down onto the relic…

…Shards flew everywhere. Everyone including me shielded their eyes as a power surge roared through the room. After it cleared there was still shards of energy floating around but we could see clearly. The relic was completely in pieces and Doyle, well at least he wasn't trying to attack us. He was still a cryptid hybrid in appearance but we had no idea how he was going to act. He was laid on his back, groaning a little. Mom and Dad readied their weapons as he got onto his feet. He didn't attack us like we suspected. Not at all. He grumbled a little and leaned back, cracking his back. Then sighing in relief. We couldn't believe our eyes. He looked over at us pretty casually and opened his mouth to speak.

"Hey Drew did you remember to stock the fridge? Man I'm starved."

"Doyle!"


	12. Solution

**Long time no update. Keep sending in your suggestions for what if endings that I can write a theory for if you want this series to continue! This story is nearly finished.**

* * *

Most of the family encircled him in a hug.

"Can't…breathe" he spluttered. Fisk giggled and let him go. Drew also stepped away from her brother and as soon as she did so she put a hand to her mouth. "What?" He asked defensively, folding his scaly arms over his thick chest.

"You look … different," she said piteously, Zak nodded at her statement. Doyle looked offended.

"Thanks," he muttered sarcastically. Drew scowled back at him.

"Don't forget I'm still mad at you Doyle." Doyle looked defeated. "Now what do you have to say for yourself?" The sibling duo looked like a mother and a guilty son.

"I'm sorry Drew," he said quietly.

"That's better," she said solemnly.

"Are we forgetting that he is still an imminent threat?" Doc asked, cutting in. Drew looked over at the smashed relic and sighed in relief.

"Depends if he has any burning desires to kill us," Drew said.

"I think Miniman's quick thinking stopped that," Doyle answered, smiling at his nephew.

"Well next time quick thinking might backfire kiddo," she said, kneeling down in front of Zak, "what if that thing had made you change into that?" She said, pointing at Doyle who ignored her. Zak pouted.

"At least give the kid some of the credit," Doyle said. Drew sighed.

"You would. He stopped you from becoming any more of a brainwashed monster." Doc rolled his one good eye and stepped between the two bickering siblings.

"You're both much too old for sibling rivalry," he said wisely. He looked to Doyle, having to look up slightly because of his sudden growth spurt that meant he was an inch or two taller.

"Do you have complete control of your mind," he asked sternly.

"I-I think so," Doyle replied. Doc looked him up and down.

"You sure?"

"Let's put it this way, I don't have Nagas constantly barking at my brain telling me to kill you guys anymore," Doyle answered in a serious tone.

"I'm not so sure Doyle. That blast did nothing to change your appearance," Doc responded, looking slightly annoyed. "It could take weeks to figure out and reverse what you've done. You've put us even farther behind schedule."

Already in an aggressive mood, Doyle took offense. "Well aren't we just a beam of sunshine today!" Doyle snapped, quipping a quick remark. Doc wasn't so fond of Doyle's habits and quirks so he wasn't at all impressed.

"Well I'm sorry for your loss Doyle but I wasn't the one who thought messing around with dark magic was a good idea was I?"

His opponent (who usually would only fight back with words) balled his hands into fists and prepared to lunge at his rival only to be stopped by Drew.

"Alright boys, that's enough! Let's not turn this into some pointless macho-." She was cut off by her husband.

"I'm not. Your 'little' brother has no self-control, that's all." Doyle growled and would have advanced on Doc if Drew hadn't put a hand on his chest and given him the instruction to stay still.

"Yes Doc, I can see that. He is also very short tempered at the moment so I suggest nobody winds anybody up because you'll both get hurt," Zak and Fisk watched as their mom continued to scold them. "I mean it! Now step away from each other and go do something productive," she instructed. Doc scowled at Doyle and then turned away, walking in the direction of the lab. Doyle sent him a glare in return and then slinked off somewhere in the other direction, the double doors swishing shut behind him. Drew shook her head. "Men," She sighed in disbelief before leaving the room in the same direction as Doc, Zak and his cryptid siblings hot on her heels. She went down to the lab where Doc was sulking. She ignored him and instead logged onto one of the computers and began typing something. After a few minutes she turned to Zak and spoke up. "Zak honey can you go back upstairs and get me the remains of the relic, there's something I have to do." Zak raised an eyebrow at her question but nodded and left them room. As he headed upstairs he noticed the familiar sound of the TV on in the living room. Curious, he entered the room to see Doyle casually stretched out on the sofa, watching TV. Fisk was in the room too but he was hiding behind the other sofa, cowering in fear every time Doyle made any sudden movements. Zak assumed he was still very frightened of the unpredictable hybrid. Zak turned back to his long lost uncle, taking a long stare at his features. Doyle noticed this and sat up.

"If you stare any harder Zakman your eyes are gonna pop outta your head," he said sarcastically.

"Sorry," he apologised, "I'm just not used to the whole cryptid mutant for an uncle thing."

"It's the tail isn't it?" He sighed. He swished his whip like tail gently from side to side for emphasis.

"It is a little odd."

"A little?" Doyle asked "and I thought the scales were bad."

"Oh well, cheer up. I suspect mom's working on changing you back," Zak comforted. Doyle growled. "In fact she asked me to recover the chunks of the relic. I guess all that effort you put into fixing it amounted to nothing huh?"

"That makes me feel so much better Zak, thank you," Doyle sighed in annoyance. Zak got the message that he wanted to be alone. He beckoned Fiskerton over and they left. Zak walked over to the smashed relic and gathered up the largest pieces of it. He and fisk then went back down to the lab. His mom noticed he was a little disheartened when he handed the contents over.

"Sweetie, is everything okay?" Drew asked "Has your uncle done anything you want to tell me about?"

"No mom, nothing like that," Zak confessed, "It's just that he's acting so weird, I know I should trust him but-."

"No Zak, you shouldn't right now. I want you and your brothers to stay down here, where your father and I can see you. If I wasn't so pressured for time, I would go and keep an eye on him as we have no hard evidence against the fact that he could go savage at any moment." Drew sighed.

"Your mom is right Zak. Doyle is incredibly dangerous. I don't want you anywhere near him." Doc added.

"Not for much longer if my theory is right," Drew said, taking the magenta coloured gem that used to part of the relic out of the wreckage and shining it in the light. She pulled up an image on one of the monitors. It was another relic of some sort. This one was painted blue and brown and had a relatively similar shape and design to the one Doyle was restoring but its eyes were empty, pure white. The only exact similarity was the pink gem on the top, the one that Drew was currently holding.

"What is that?" Zak and Doc asked in sync.

"This is the Taru Seru, it is the sister relic to the one Doyle had," Drew stated.

"Taruza Serajuba?" Fisk asked.

"It means 'return back'. According to my sources, the first relic was created by the first Nagas when Kur was wreaking havoc on the ancient world in order to gain more followers loyal to Kur. Apparently they encountered many issues with it and ended up making an opposite force to control it, another relic, the Taru Seru. This one is just as powerful and can remove and neutralise the dark aura from its companion tool. If this thing works, we could use it to get the dark energy out of Doyle's body without causing him too much harm." She explained.

"Where is this relic then?" Zak asked

"That's where it gets a little difficult," she hinted.

"Let me guess," Zak said taking a deep breath, "a booby-trapped tomb? An obsessive artefact collector? How about a famous museum?" He reeled off a long list.

"Much worse kiddo."

"Weird world?" Zak shuddered.

"Not even there. It is hidden in the cave systems under the Chao Phraya river, Thailand, the home turf of the Nagas." Doc, Zak and Fisk gasped.

"The Nagas?!" Zak cried, "How are we supposed to fight them?"

"The aim is not to arouse suspicion. They keep it somewhere in the queen's chambers, we're gonna sneak in there undetected and steal it before the realise what's going on."

"Oh a stealth mission," Zak smirked, rubbing his hands together. Fisk started doing ninja poses, hopping behind the desk and hiding himself away.

"This isn't a mission for jokes Zak. The Nagas are the ones who caused this remember. They did turn your uncle into an evil ahlf cryptid," Doc corrected "Drew are you sure there isn't another way out of this?"

"I wish there was Doc but you know Doyle can't stay like that forever," Drew said quietly "it isn't fair on him."

"Why not? He's the one who's responsible for it, it's his own fault!" Doc shouted.

"I know. I know. But as you already know, we need to focus on finding Kur," She turned to leave the room "But I don't want my brother ending up being caged for turning into some violent monstrosity." She walked out of earshot. Zak and Doc looked at each other. Doc groaned and rolled his eyes.

"I'll go and boot up the airship," he said, sauntering away, defeated.

* * *

"Doyle?" Drew asked, stepping into the living room. She sat down on the other end of the sofa he was sitting on. He looked at her with an irritated stare. It gave her chills.

"What's up?" He asked.

"I have some good news for you," She said, smiling softly.

"You have?" He asked, sitting up straight, showing interest.

"Doc and I think we've found the cure," She admitted.

"Took you long enough," Doyle growled. Drew looked offended.

"Excuse me? Do you want us to leave you stuck like this because if that's a yes…"

"Alright, alright," Doyle sighed "thank you sis for supposedly finding a way to stop me from turning into a complete freak of nature." He put a scaly hand on her shoulder. It made her somewhat uncomfortable. She shrugged it off.

"That's better," Drew scolded.

"So, what form does my saviour come in?" He asked, once again stretching out and putting his hands behind his head. She rolled her eyes.

"It's another relic Doyle, the opposite to the one that you had."

"I don't like the sound of that."

"That's not the only problem, the Naga have it." Doyle shuddered in disgust.

"Great. Just freakin' fantastic," He shouted to nobody in particular, putting his head in his hands. "I HATE snakes!"

"Sounds like you have a bad case of Ophidiophobia," Drew announced jokingly, "I guess you won't be ignoring my warnings anymore."

"A bad case of what?" He asked.

"Snake phobia."

"Is there a scientific name for Naga-Phobia?"

"Probably not."

"Anyway, I came to tell you'll that we're leaving in the next hour. We're going to their hideout to get it." Doyle frowned. "You're gonna have to come along with us."

"Why? Don't trust me?"

"I trust you alright but it's those cryptid genes that burrowed their way into you that I'm worried about," She said anxiously.

"Your husband won't be too happy about that," Doyle added.

"You'll survive," she yawned, standing up.

"You look tired."

"It's the middle of the night, I'd be asleep right now if you hadn't broken out and gone killer on us."

"Touché," Doyle smirked, standing up himself. Drew found his full height a little daunting as he was now about 5 inches taller than Doc and twice as intimidating and she couldn't help but gawk at him. He immediately noticed and snapped his fingers in front of her face, snapping her out of her trance. "It isn't that amazing ya know." She blinked and then looked up at him.

"Come on," she said, waving him over to the door "The sooner we get there the sooner we leave." When they reached the hangar Zak, Fisk, Komodo, Doc and even Zon were about to board the airship. Zak gave them a wave, the cryptids looked distressed and Doc wasn't impressed.

"What is HE doing here?" He asked angrily, folding his arms. Doyle tried to ignore him by walking past him and up the ramp but Doc matched his step. "I want an answer."

"Doc, he's gonna have to come with us," Drew said, stepping in before a fight started.

"No Drew, he's not. I'm not putting us in danger like that. What if he turns on us whilst we're airborne!" Doc shouted.

"Well if we leave him home and he changes, he'll get out and we might never find him again," Drew responded.

"We are going to the Naga's home turf, don't forget he's still part snake. Say Doyle, what will happen if we are to face the Naga, who's side will you be on then?"

"Dad!" Zak cut in.

"Are you serious?" Doyle asked accusingly.

"That's why he's staying on the airship when we go inside their lair," Drew answered, shaking her head as if the answer was obvious. "Now let's get going, shall we boys?"

"You better watch it Doyle. If you even think about doing something reckless or irresponsible I'm kicking you into next Tuesday," Doc growled.

"Oh I'm quaking in my boots professor." Apparently the feeling was mutual between the two.

"That's enough. Doc, Doyle can we please refrain from killing each other?" Drew asked. Zak giggled. "Look, as soon as we sort this out, you can silently hate each other until your hearts are content okay?" The scientist and ex mercenary gave each other cold stares before turning their backs on each other. Doc went up into the airship whilst Doyle was stood by the ramp, obviously annoyed until Drew ordered him up into the ship so they could take off. By the time they reached Thailand it was still evening due to the time zones. They suspended the airship above the river to go over a briefing for the mission. Although Doyle and Zon weren't taking part, they were listening in too. Drew paced around the room, giving instruction to the group. "Now, the Naga have a secret entranceway into their hideout, a blocked off drainage pipe that leads directly into their nest. We need to find it and use it to get there as it seems to be the only unguarded ticket inside. Once we're in, we need to find the supposed chambers where the relic is located so that we can get in and out again without detection. Doyle, I want you to stay here with Zon, even if we're in trouble, I want you to stay on the ship. The Naga still may be able to control you and it could turn out deadly to all of us. If we're not back within an hour, call the secret scientists for backup okay?" Doyle looked unsure but he nodded anyway to show his approval.

The Saturdays then began gearing up with high tech weaponry and equipment. Drew was armed with both her fire sword and a cortex disruptor, Zak had the claw and a videophone whilst Doc carried his power glove and had multiple reflex disruptors fastened to his belt. Fisk and Komodo were going as themselves. Doyle watched as they went into the belly of the airship and exited it via a rope ladder before running off into the thick trees where Doyle lost sight of them. He closed the hatch and turned to see the pterosaur that he'd been left with cleaning her wing in the corner she stopped and looked over at the half cryptid with her beady eyes. Doyle sighed and walked past her.

"Sit tight Jurassic, I'm going to go keep watch," Doyle said, about to walk out the door. She squawked and then continued with examining her underwing…

* * *

"So, where is this secret entrance then?" Zak asked, trailing behind his brothers and parents, claw in hand.

"It's near the docks. Supposedly it was supposed to be the start of a project that would link both sides of the river through an underground tunnel. Unfortunately, work was halted on it because workers reported hearing eerie hissing noises and seeing shadows in the tunnels, I guess it scared them off and they never finished it," Drew answered. The family moved out of the trees and into the harbour. About a few paces away lay an abandoned building site. "I bet that's where it is." They moved through it until they came across a pipe. About 2 meters both ways and with a few rickety wooden boards nailed across it.

"Fiskerton?" Doc asked. The lemurian pulled the boards away with his bare hands. "Let's go," he said, activating the power glove, filling the pipe with a spooky green glow. They climbed inside, Fisk crouching as he didn't quite fit. As the continued through they began to hear hissing and whispering.

"Dad, what is that?" Zak asked curiously.

"That'll be the Nagas, stay quiet and keep behind me," Doc whispered. The pipe began to lighten and soon it came to a dead end in the form of a sudden drop. They looked down into the pipe to see it opened up into a large clearing. With Hindi and Sumerian designs carved into the floor and marble pillars holding up the ground above, it seemed fairly grand but the Saturdays couldn't help but get an uneasy feeling about them. Silently, Drew dropped down into the hall with a soft thud she looked around and then both Doc and Fisk jumped down, Fisk carrying Komodo. Zak shot the claw onto a wall and lowered himself down.

"That was easy," Zak stated but was silenced by sounds from the two passages that connected the room.

"Is that so fleshling boy?" …

… Within seconds they were surrounded, Nagas of all shapes and sizes blocking their way. Their queen was amongst them. Before they could react she slithered up to them.

"Greetings Saturdays," She hissed, circling the group, "It seems you have come to retrieve our second relic."

"How did you know that we-," Drew started but was cut off by the Naga.

"It was unwise of you to bring the infected one along with you. Although you may have destroyed my stronger telepathic link with him, he is nearby, so I can pick up his thought as feelings without him even realising it." She turned to her Nagas, "Enslave them." The two foremost Nagas slithered forwards and snatched komodo up in their thick arms. He snapped and wriggled around. Drew unsheathed her sword and pointed it at the few Nagas that dared to approach. Doc punched one of them in the chest with his glove as it struck at him with its fangs. He jumped on its neck and rushed over to Drew who was dodging strikes from Rani Nagi herself. Fisk was busy with a different Naga, jumping at it and throwing punches. Drew was knocked down by the queen and Doc was forced to help her instead of fight back so he ended up surrounded. Fisk and Komodo were too busy to help them and Zak was swinging at them with his now extended claw. One of them smacked him upside the head with a clawed hand and he fell, the video phone dropping out of his pocket and skidding along the floor.

"Zak! Get the phone!" Doc cried. Zak staggered up but failed to reach the phone in time before it was crushed under the weight of one of the Nagas. Drew sent a blast of fire at two Nagas, knocking them back and away. She turned to their ruler, charged and sent an expert kick into her head, which swung back and hit the wall.

"How dare you!" Drew seethed. Rani chuckled as she got back up.

"You are just as foolish as your other unfortunate family member," she hissed. Drew watched in horror as Rani began to chant in Hindi, with the other Naga chorusing her. Drew immediately recognised it and called to Zak and Doc.

"Zak! Doc! Watch out, she's summoning backup!" Drew cried but it was already too late. Other cryptids began to file into the cavern, Drew was able to count several species: Tsuchinokos, Namibian flying snakes, Bishopville Lizardmen, Burach Bhadis along with other serpent cryptids all closing in on her, preventing the family's escape. Rani continued to chant as roars and hisses blocked out the Saturday's cries.

"Come my servants, my loyal ones, fight for your master! The Saturdays are ours!"


	13. Escapade

"Come my servants, my loyal ones, fight for your master! The Saturdays are ours!"

He wasn't sure if he really heard it the first time.

"Take theses pathetic humans to the dungeons! They are enemies of Kur!"

He didn't fight it out this time, he listened and what he heard filled him with dread.

"See that they are secured, we can't have them running off to warn their allies!"

His family, captured? Already? Doyle stood up from the pilot seat of the airship where he had been resting and mentally shook himself. That message he had intercepted had taken its toll on him. He looked through the glass walls of the cockpit and saw the docks beyond. He wasn't too adamant on calling the scientists, they probably wouldn't believe him anyway, considering how hostile they were concerning the Monday incident. He'd take this one solo, maybe with some help from a certain cryptid he'd been left with…

* * *

The pterosaur hovered above the roof of one of the fishing huts in the docks. Doyle let go of her talons and fell the short drop onto the corrugated metal roof, landing with a clank. He surveyed his surroundings and looked up to the reptilian bird.

"Thanks Jurassic."

The pterosaur squawked her approval before flying away to perch on some scaffolding a few metres beyond. Doyle had already began looking for the alleged entrance Drew had talked about, but he was careful not to draw any attention to himself. He slipped down off the roof, using his tail to balance himself and tried to look for any other signs of the Saturdays. He had already seen a pipe whilst Zon was flying him in, he just hoped for their sake that it was the right one. He snuck over to where he had seen it and looked at the scene before him. There were fresh tracks in the sand. Some human ones and some huge ones that were way too big to be human. Fiskerton. Doyle leaned in, but decided against shouting as It would have given his position away. The pipe was slightly flooded, but he moved through as quietly as he could for a man of his size and stature. He crept through until he reached the dip in the passage that led into the Naga's lair. He could hear talking from beneath him so he peeked over the edge to see two Nagas deep in conversation with each other. He recognised one as the queen herself, the other as one of her allies.

"What about the infected one my queen, have you not traced him yet?" The Naga asked. Doyle wasn't sure who they were talking about.

"Unfortunately not. When that child smashed our relic, it weakened my psychic link with him, I can sense that he is nearby but I can't exactly pin point where he is," Rani hissed. Doyle cursed softly. They were onto him.

"So keep a sharp eye on the prisoners as he might be among us right this very…"

"Rani Nagi! My queen!" Doyle watched as another Naga appeared.

"The child prisoner! He's gone!" Doyle watched as the queen smacked her subject upside the head.

"You fool!" she screamed. Doyle couldn't help but chuckle slightly. "Find it before it warns the rest of its species!" All three Nagas slithered off down opposite paths and once Doyle was sure that they'd gone, he jumped down out of the pipe and landed in a crouch on the cavern floor. He looked from left to right and then rushed down one of the paths. He was quick to get out of the walkway and climb up into a more sheltered area. The place was huge; and it didn't take him long to discover that he was going round in circles. He was following the assumption that the dungeons would be on a lower level than the one he was currently on. He managed to find some stairs which led to some kind of monument. A rock cobra head. Doyle was about to leave when he heard the echo of footsteps coming his way. He darted behind it and prayed for whoever it was to go away. The sound was too small and rhythmic to belong to a Naga so he figured that it belonged to something smaller, something that he could probably handle. So at the last second he darted into its path and grabbed the figure, holding it in the air. Doyle couldn't believe his eyes.

"Zak?"

"Uncle Doyle!? Zak looked into the orange eyes of his uncle, "What are you doing here? I thought-."

"I heard something! This way!"

Doyle grabbed Zak and darted behind the statue, he clamped a rough hand over the boy's mouth and restrained him in his lap. Zak openly spoke muffled protests into Doyle's hand but then shut himself up as he too heard the hissing that was approaching them.

"Well then you heard wrong, there is nothing here. I suggest that we leave, if we don't find the fleshling, our queen will have our heads!" Doyle was frozen, holding his breath along with Zak.

"I'm sure I heard something," the other commented.

"It isn't here, let us move on."

Doyle didn't move from his hiding spot until he was absolutely sure that the Nagas were gone and by that point, he was nearly choking Zak.

"Hello? Earth to Doyle, I can't breathe here!" Zak shouted, his voice still muffled by Doyle's hand. Doyle realised and let him go, breathing a deep sigh of relief himself.

Zak coughed for a few moments and then looked at Doyle. "Jeez your hands are so scratchy; those scales make them feel like fresh sandpaper!"

"Shhhhh! Keep your voice down will you? You'll get us caught!" Doyle whispered harshly.

"What are you doing here? Mom told you to stay on the airship," Zak scolded, Doyle rolled his eyes, "don't you listen to anyone?"

"Look, I still have my psychic black magic snake powers okay? I accidentally got a message from the Naga saying that you guys got captured so what was I supposed to do?" Doyle nearly snapped.

"You were supposed to phone the secret scientists like mom told you," Zak stated obviously.

"Zak, let's get real here, do you really think the secret scientists would have been any help?" Doyle asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, your probably right," Zak sighed in defeat.

"Now, can you tell me where your parents are? We need to jailbreak them if we're gonna get out of this in one piece."

"I'm don't know exactly where, but I'm pretty sure it's down there somewhere," Zak said, pointing to the tunnel where the Nagas had come from just a minute ago. Doyle stood up and peaked round the corner. Nothing. He pulled Zak out from behind the statue and they crept down the passageway, occasionally pausing and listening as they went until Zak led Doyle down to a steep corridor.

"Down there?" He asked, looking down the curved, winding tunnel. Zak nodded. Doyle signalled Zak to wait before heading down himself. He snuck a glance down past a corner to see a few cells containing his family members, along with a patrolling guard. He quickly tiptoed back up to Zak. He pressed himself up against the wall. "Crud," he whispered.

"What is it?" Zak asked. Doyle grimaced.

"There's a guard," he replied.

"How are we gonna get past?" Zak asked.

"I'm gonna improvise," Doyle smirked. Zak gave him a look. Doyle ignored it and explained himself, "I'll draw its attention whilst you make a run for your parents."

"That's never gonna work," Zak sighed. Doyle pushed him into one of the shadowy corners out of sight from the hall.

"Wait here, I'll draw its attention and then you move once it comes past here okay?" Doyle instructed. He walked back out into the hall, put his fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly. The Naga heard it and began to slither towards the source. Zak held his breath as he saw it stop just beyond his hiding spot and look around. Zak watched in horror as it started towards him, but then stopped as Doyle distracted it by throwing something at the Naga (Zak assumed it was a rock). Angered, it started shouting in Hindi and then rushed away. Zak slipped away and ran down to his parents and brothers.

"Zak! What are you doing here!?" they asked in surprise.

"Getting you out," he replied, trying to break the bars with the claw.

"Zak, it's no use, there's no way we're breaking out without keys or our weapons," Drew concluded "They put Fiskerton in separate chains too, he can't break us out."

"Not if I can help it." Doyle appeared behind Zak.

"Where's the Naga?" Zak asked him.

"Tell you later Miniman," he responded, walking over to the cell that Doc was in.

"Excuse me Mister? Didn't I specifically tell you to wait on the airship no matter what?" Drew asked angrily.

"Hey! Can't you just be grateful? The secret scientists would've been no more help than me." Doyle put his hands to the bars and tried to lift them off their foundations. Doc came over to him to help and they managed to pull a few of the bars loose enough for Doc to fit through.

"Rezhuru?" Fisk asked, pointing to Doc and Doyle.

"I know right? Dad and Doyle actually working together, I wonder how long that'll last," Zak joked. The two men went over to Fiskerton's cell, removing the bars and then unchaining the lemurian. Then the three of them worked on freeing Drew and Komodo. Once everyone was out they were able to work out an escape plan.

"We'll need to split up, we still have to get the relic," Drew spoke up, Doc shook his head.

"No," Doc cut in, "they'll pick us off one by one, we need to stay as a group."

"We can't go running around all in a pack, we'll be able to evade them much easier if we're split up," Doyle said.

"I'm sorry honey but I have to agree with Doyle on this one," Drew apologised "we can split in half, one group can get the relic, the rest of us need to recover our weapons."

"I don't like it," Doc protested "but I guess I'll have to make do with it. I'll take Zak and Fisk to get the weapons."

"Agreed, Doyle, Komodo and I will go and find the relic," Drew confirmed, "We'll meet back outside the pipe as soon as we can." And with that the groups split up, one going deep into the tunnels, the other with Zak leading the way. Drew was leading the other team of three. "The Naga's chamber is somewhere close to the surface of the river. We need to find a way to get higher if we're going to find it," she commented.

"There won't be any ladders or stairs in here that's for sure, their lair is probably furnished to be snake friendly," Doyle added, feeling some of the walls for any hidden passages that might have been installed there.

"Unless you can sense out a secret entrance then we're pretty much stuck down here," she sighed, watching her brother.

"I'm not psychic Drew, I can't exactly just tell you where it is," he replied, looking up and checking the ceiling.

"Then how did you know we were in trouble in the first place, Zak couldn't have possibly gotten help that quickly," Drew asked.

"That was different, I got a message from Rani Nagi herself, saying that she'd captured you lot," he replied. Drew looked surprised.

"So she can still talk to you through mind control?" Drew said, "you told me that you weren't under her control anymore."

"I'm not," Doyle argued, "I still have a very weak connection with her, I can hear things she says but it doesn't sound like they are directed at me."

"Too bad you can't sense that relic though?" Drew said in annoyance, slightly elbowing her younger sibling.

"You're the sciencey one, you figure it out," Doyle argued playfully.

"Me? You're the one with the snake sense Doyle," Drew retorted. There was a hiss from Komodo. The siblings looked at him. "We should probably get on with the plan."

"Yeah, except for the fact that we've hit a dead end." He was right, there was nothing but solid rock in front of them.

"This doesn't make any sense!" Drew said, sitting down on a rock. The rock jolted and she stood up in surprise. A rumbling shook the passage and the rock wall opened up into a sloping tunnel.

"That was so cliché," Doyle chuckled.

"I know." The siblings left it at that and dashed up the tunnel, the komodo dragon following them. The path dropped out onto another snake monument. They dropped onto it and peeked down into the room below. It was some kind of prayer room, with stained and decorated walls, littered with candles and scent sticks. In the middle was another statue, this one a Naga, Drew and Doyle couldn't believe what it was holding in its claws.

"The relic!" Drew cried and was about to jump down when Doyle grabbed her by the wrist. He looked at seriously, warning flashing in his eyes.

"Something isn't right," he muttered softly.

"Doyle, it's right there," She comforted.

"I know… it's just, I have a really bad feeling about this"

"In what way?"

"I don't know, something's telling me that it's dangerous."

"Maybe it's your common sense kicking in after all of these years."

"Sis, I'm serious," he said, trying to persuade her into waiting.

"Wait here then. I won't be a minute." Drew jumped down, but she hadn't taken 10 steps before she was violently thrown into the air, the atmosphere around her becoming a blur of scenery and panicked shouts from Doyle. The spinning continued until she found herself stopping in front of a pair of red eyes. A hand tightened around her throat.

"Hello Saturday."

"Drew!" Doyle cried and leapt onto the Naga's back. She tried to use her free hand to grab him, but it didn't prevail. Doyle on the other hand locked one hand around the Naga's neck and sunk the other into her arm. She cried out and let go of Drew who fell to the ground. The white haired woman moved just in time to avoid Rani Nagi lunging at her but the Naga was pulled back by a strong pulling on her tail, Doyle. She swiped at him only to get an off guard kick in the head from Drew.

"Drew! Get the relic!" Drew staggered up and ran towards the relic but was stopped dead by a cry of pain from her brother. Fearing he had been injured she turned around to see him on his knees, holding his head in his hands. "Doyle!" she shouted, running over to him.

"Drew! Stay away from me!" he warned. She saw the Naga over by the first statue, chanting and whispering, an evil smile on her features. Drew realised what she was doing.

"Doyle! You have to fight it!" Drew shouted at him, "you're the only one who can!"

"He can't hear you human! He belongs to me once more!" Rani Nagi triumphantly shouted. Doyle's eyes snapped open and Drew back up in fear, immediately noticing that they were glazed over with a powerful sheen of hate and devotion. He took his place at the side of his master.

"Dispose of the human," she said to him. His eyes locked onto hers and Drew recoiled as he stalked towards her. She grabbed one of the candle stands and waved the fire at him.

"I'm warning you Doyle! Stay back!" She snapped, trying not to show him any of her imminent fear. He leapt at her and she ended up dropping her weapon as she fell down under him. She tried not to look him in the eyes as he held her down. "Doyle," she whispered, "it's me, Drew, don't you recognise me?" She felt his breath on her cheek as he began to snarl. "Please Doyle, for me." She was so close to him that she could hear Rani Nagi's commands of dark magic emanating from his indoctrinated mind.

"That's it my servant, it's nearly over now, just one strike to her throat…" Drew swallowed her terror as she imagined the thought and hoped that he couldn't bring himself to do it.

"You will finish this task for me…" It was disgusting.

"Don't listen to her uncle Doyle!" That wasn't Rani Nagi.

"Zak?" Doyle asked bluntly, sounding quite confused. Drew opened her eyes to see Doyle's wide eyes glowing bright orange. Then she saw her son standing a short distance away, claw in hand, powers activated.

"Get away from my mom," the strong command instantly took effect and Doyle drew back, a little bewildered.

Drew, Komodo or anyone else bar Zak, Doyle and the Naga queen could hear the fight for control that was going on in Doyle's head. The latter was still cryptid enough for Zak to at least reason with him.

"Doyle! You don't have to do this!" Zak mentally cried, "just tell me where you are, I can help you!"

"Zak?" Doyle thought out loud.

"Doyle, you have to stop! You don't know what you're doing!"

"How are you here? Why can I hear you?"

"I'm in your head, I'm trying to stop you from losing yourself to the darkness again!"

"Darkness is what he is corrupted with boy! You cannot bend darkness against its base desires!" Rani Nagi butted in, causing Doyle to fall down (onto the floor if Drew and Fisk hadn't caught him) in a loss of who to listen to.

"Come on Doyle! What has she ever done for you? Why should you listen to her?"

"Because I' am now all his simple mind knows, other than the fierce instincts of an animal!"

"Doyle? Doyle can you hear me!" Zak couldn't sense him listening any longer.

"Doyle?"

"Hello?" A sudden energy burst left Zak cast out his mind and on the floor.

"Zak! Are you alright!?" Doc yelled in concern, having entered the room and seen the current carnage.

"No! Mom, Fisk, get away from there! Doyle is…" was the last thing Zak could say before he saw his brother and mother being knocked down by Doyle's tail and fists. However, he didn't attack them, in fact as soon as they hit the ground Doyle's eyes began to shift, as if he was picking a target. He locked eyes with the preteen.

"A new order my servant ... Finish what you started, kill the boy." Zak heard it before it registered with Doyle and he made a mad dash towards the relic. Rani Nagi had seen what was going on and was doing the same whilst Doyle had caught on and was right on Zak's heels. Rani had her hands on it first and as a result Zak was sent airborne as he tried to clear the Naga and get away from his uncle. Fortunately, the Naga's trajectory had meant that Doyle was unable to dodge her and he, the Naga and the relic all collided at once. Everyone else could only watch as the sudden contact caused a huge wave of feedback from the relic. The amber dome engulfed Doyle and the Naga first and then Zak who was still in the blast radius.

"Zak! Doyle! Can you hear me!" Drew screamed. Doc pulled her away as the force began to pull them in. She cried out in hysteria as the ground began to shake beneath them, the cave crumbling under the pressure. After what seemed like forever the field of energy imploded on itself and left a thick chunk of dust and debris in the air. The Saturdays were left coughing and spluttering. Drew could make out three outlines in the dust, one big and two smaller. She ran forward and stopped dead as the dust cleared. Rani Nagi was there as she'd suspected and so were her son and brother. They looked slightly battered, their clothing frayed on the ends, both seemed to be out cold but Drew was overjoyed to see that both of them, were completely human in their entirety …

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 **That was an eventful chapter. It is also the penultimate one! I have decided that I 'am going to continue with writing TSS stories, however it won't be another story like this one, I have a main project that I have rebooted (not on fanfiction) and that is my main concern right now. But that doesn't mean I'm quitting, just trying something new that will give me a wider range on what I write. If you have seen my profile, you might know what it is but I'm going to say that it is isn't a full story project. I have decided to upload the first chapter here on Wednesday, in the evening, which is probably afternoon or morning for you guys overseas in the US. Tell me what you think of this idea in the reviews!**


	14. Epilogue

Drew ran straight up to her son, picking him up and embracing him tightly.

"Mom? What happened? Where are we?" He asked tiredly, opening his eyes.

"It's okay sweetie," Drew said gently, placing him back on his feet where he was grabbed by a very excited Fiskerton.

"Heh, easy Fisk! I just got tossed around like a rag doll, I don't need you doing it again!" Zak laughed as his brother let him go with a giggle.

"You're one to talk, I feel like I just got a house dropped on me."

"Doyle!" The redhead sat up, rubbing his head in pain, smiling weakly.

"What?" He winced, getting to his feet.

"It worked, you're back to normal!" Zak declared with relief. Doyle began looking over himself frantically, bringing his hands up in front of his face.

"Ha! That's a relief! For a while there I thought I was going to be stuck like that forever," He sighed, obviously glad to have his average human body back.

"I think that would have been a nightmare for all of us," Drew admitted, ruffling her son's hair and then bringing her brother into a hug. "So don't do it again otherwise I'm throwing you out of the airship without that jetpack of yours," she said in a frightfully calm voice. Doyle smiled sheepishly.

"This is a nice reunion and all, but we need to get out of here before the Naga find out that we've taken down their queen, who I assume will be waking up shortly," Doc stated begrudgingly. The rest nodded. The group, now consisting of 6 members quickly left via another exit and scrambled towards the opening, although it was now clear that there was no easy escape route.

"How the heck are we supposed to get up there?" Zak asked, looking up at the pipe on the ceiling.

"We could use the claw," Drew suggested.

"No, it wouldn't hold the weight of all of us," Doc cut in, we might have to find another way out. There was a low hissing from nearby. "Doyle, I want you to take Zak and Komodo back up the pipe, the rest of us will have to find another way out!"

"Dad! We can't do that!" Zak argued.

"There's no time Zak! We need to get out as fast as possible!" Doc shouted back, him, Fiskerton and Drew already nearly out of earshot. "We'll meet you in the harbour!" Was the last thing Zak could hear clearly from them as their shouts merged with the echo from the rock.

"Come on Miniman, time to go," Doyle's serious voice caught his attention. Zak took the claw in hand and used it as a winch to reach the top before throwing it down to Doyle. Doyle held onto it with one hand, with his other arm around Komodo's belly and did the same, grappling the top of the pipe until they too had disappeared from view.

… LINE BREAK

"Don't let the humans escape!" Doc, Drew and Fisk were surrounded by the Naga in the lagoon area of their lair. They stood their ground but were losing the fight. One of them tried to coil around Drew but received a sharp, painful stab from her Tibetan Fire Sword. Fisk punched one only to be swept off his feet by another's spiked tail.

"Drew!" Doc cried, "get into the water! I'll delay them."

"No Doc!" She shouted back, swiping her sword at a Naga that was too close for comfort.

"Trust me! I'll follow you as soon I can!" Drew held her breath and dove beneath the surface, Fisk following her. Doc took out the cortex disruptor and began firing rounds at several Nagas until he had it knocked out of his hands at which point he retreated into the water. Something wrapped around his foot, dragging him upwards. He burst out of the water and gave it a hard punch with his force glove, making it release him. With a deep breath he went under, swimming as fast as he could into the open river. He couldn't hold his breath any longer by the time he reached the surface and was gasping for air as soon as he breached the waves. What was worse was the fact that he couldn't see his wife anywhere. He was struggling to stay afloat when he heard the sound of beating wings above him. He felt talons latch onto him on both shoulders and hoist him out of the water with a squawk. Doc immediately knew who his savour was as he was lowered down towards the harbour pier. He dropped down onto his knees with Zon landing beside him.

"Nice swim professor?" Doyle jeered, looking at the soaked man catching his breath.

"You don't know the half of it," Doc growled, standing up straight.

"Well, I guess now that's sorted we can go back to finding Kur," Drew sighed, wiping her soggy hair out of her eyes.

"Let's hope you've learned your lesson Doyle," Doc scolded, folding his arms with a cold stare.

"Oh, don't worry I have, I'm definitely not doing that again, not in a million years," the ex-mercenary replied.

"Well, looks you were right about the relic Drew," Doc said, rubbing his chin, "I guess we can't use it to find Kur."

"Yeah those things are definitely bad omens," Zak piped up, "I guess we're gonna have to use Fiskerton's instincts." The lemurian babbled something and got down on the floor cross legged, humming to himself. The three adults groaned.

"He'll get it eventually, just trust him okay?" Zak said positively.

Doyle was rubbing his head in discontent but there was a small smile tugging at his lips "Yeah," he said softly, "I guess we're gonna have to." Drew noticed and put an arm around her brother, slightly giggling at her adoptive cryptid son. "This family," Doyle sighed, shaking his head, "you've got to either love it or hate it."

Drew smiled at her brothers playful remark, "aren't those two the same thing?" Doyle laughed half heartedly, with Fisk joining in making the laughter contagious to everyone else.

"If the Naga came back we'd all be done for," Zak laughed.

"I suppose we should get back to the airship before that happens," Doc suggested, searching the river surface.

"Fisk, Zak come on, it's time to go," Drew called, giving her son a kiss on the cheek as he passed and giving a brother a moderately gentle smack on the back of the head. He ignored her and continued on as she stopped to talk with Doc. "Do you think that's over and done with?" she asked him.

"Doyle may be ignorant, cocky, rebellious, annoying, money hungry, stubborn..."

"And your point is?" Drew asked.

"His heart is in the right place," Doc said somewhat doubtfully.

"I'll tell him you said that," Drew grinned.

Doc rolled his eye, "Come on, the boys will be wondering where we've got to." The couple walked off together hand in hand to catch up with their family that had been mended for the time being. The time being wasn't going to last long as the war was soon to begin...

* * *

 **I FINISHED IT! I really enjoyed writing this one, it was alright, especially the later chapters. I want to thank the following people for reviewing:**

 _Shiloh,_

 _DementedCreations,_

 _Loosecat56_

 _and Annabeth & Percy rules._

 **Thank you for reviewing my first ever story. I would really appreciate it if you could review this chapter as a full story review, giving me an indication my this story's strengths, weaknesses and what was your favourite part? It would be a big help! For now have a virtual box of chocolates. Now a thank you to those who favourited and followed this story:**

 _InterestinAnimals,_

 _,_

 _Nerdicorn,_

 _Razorwind237,_

 _and the people I've already mentioned._

 **I have changed the date for the launch of my next TSS fanfic to next Wednesday instead, it may be later then that if I get busier. This story has reached 700 views now (way more than I expected) and I have you guys to thank for it! Until next time viewers!**

 **~Magenta**


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